


The Last of Us

by ProbablyRiley



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies), The Last of Us
Genre: All three girls are adults Beca is not 14 like Ellie, F/F, Spoilers for The Last of Us, The Last of Us AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 14:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13483284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyRiley/pseuds/ProbablyRiley
Summary: Twenty years after a fungal infection obliterated most of the U.S. population and turned the victims into infected monstrosities, Aubrey and Chloe are tasked with escorting Beca to the Fireflies to help reverse engineer a cure.





	1. Outbreak Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I really hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it! I'll be updating this every Thursday and/or Friday.

“Chloe, Chloe wake up! Something really bad is happening and everyone is running around! Wake up!” The little redhead woke up looking around groggily; her best friend Aubrey was shaking her awake. 

“Bree stop it, stop!” The four year old whined, trying to fall back asleep.

“No Chloe, we need to go downstairs! Your mommy and daddy seem really upset. Get up!” Aubrey insisted, finally getting her friend to wake up. Once they were both standing they slowly made their way down the hall to Chloe’s parents’ room. Pushing the door open they find it empty with the news playing on the tv. They didn’t really understand what the lady was talking about, but all of a sudden there was a loud boom and the tv turned to static. Looking out the window, they screamed when they saw another huge explosion go off downtown. They both ran downstairs trying to find their parents, crying and scared. 

“Aubrey, Chloe! No, stay back! Aubrey your parents are...your parents are sick, honey. We don’t know what’s going on but you need to stay back,” Chloe’s mom said when they found her near the office. All of a sudden they heard a loud bang and Aubrey’s father had crashed through the glass slider into the office. Only he looked different, scary. He was covered in blood, his skin was all bumpy in places, and his eyes were bright red and glassed over. Chloe’s father pulled a shiny black gun from his waistband and aimed it at the crazed men. 

“Richard! Richard stay back! This isn’t you. Aubrey is here! Richard god fucking damnit back up! Fuck,” A shot rang through the air as Chloe’s father, Will, pulled the gun on the wild man. He dropped like a brick and Will slowly walked backwards, Richard’s blood dripping off of him. 

“Daddy!” Aubrey cried looking wildly from her father’s body to her best friend’s dad, tears streaming down her face. “Why was he being mean? Why did you shoot him? Daddy, wake up!”

“No! Baby he’s gone, he and your mommy got very sick with whatever is going around. Aubrey baby, you’re with us now, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Jane sobbed, grabbing the little girl before she went and touched her father. She was an orphan who just saw her father get killed after acting insane. “Will, we need to get them out of here, we need to get out of the state.”

“Let’s go now. Come on Chlo, we are going to go for a road trip, okay?” He said, looking to his daughter who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole ordeal. She looked completely mesmerized by the body on the ground...quickly he grabbed her and the four of them ran out of the house. Getting into the vehicle, they strapped the girls into their car seats and took off. Chloe took Aubrey’s hand and tried to comfort the girl in the only way her young mind knew how. They heard Will and Jane talking about the sickness crossing the entire east coast, and it had started in the Huston where they were. 

“Fuck, it looked like everybody and their cousin has the same damn idea. We need to get out of Texas, and now. Holy shit!” The girls saw a lot of cars backed up on the normally clear highway. But when Chloe’s dad screamed, their view was blocked by Jane as she tried to shield the little girls from the gruesome sight in front of them. 

“Just take the back roads; turn here! I’m going to call Tommy to meet us.”

“I am, I am! He better pick up!” 

They started driving again and the girls were wide awake, trying to understand what was happening around them. Aubrey had stopped crying for now, but Chloe was still silent. They heard Jane talking quietly and frantically over the phone with her brother, keeping him updated on where they were and where they would be. Suddenly the road became bumpy as Will drove over the sidewalk. When they thought they were in the clear he jammed his foot on the gas, not paying attention to the intersection as he drove through, causing them to be t-boned by a huge truck making everything go dark. 

Next thing the girls knew they were being carried by Will as they ran through the crowded streets, with Jane in front of them with the gun, guiding them along still talking to Tommy through her bluetooth. They didn’t know how long they were running for but they watch as the city turned into random dirt trails.

“Where did mommy go? Daddy where did mommy go?” Chloe’s silence was finally broken when she realized her mom was no longer in front of them. She began to panic in her dad’s arms, squirming and looking around to try and see her mother.

“Honey stay still, mommy stayed back for a second to try and help us get ahead. Uncle Tommy finally found us. She’ll be o-”

“Stop right there!” A soldier yelled pointing his lighted gun in their faces.

“Look buddy, we’ve had a really tough time we just wanna-”

“Sir? What should I do? But sir, there are two small kids. Okay. Yes sir,” The soldier was frantically talking into his walkie talkie but his shoulders fell defeated. Slowly he raised his gun and Chloe watched her dad’s eyes become large with realization before extremely loud shots rang out. Both girls were dropped and they hit the ground, rolling down the hill. When they finally stopped, Chloe and Aubrey looked around, trying to find Will. He was lying a few feet away, being completely still. Both girls crawled over and Chloe let out a scream when she saw his eyes stuck wide open and spots of blood growing all over him. A bright light was shined on them from above but before the soldier could shoot, his aim changed and two shots rang out. The soldier fell, and they heard a woman’s cry. 

“Jane?! No! Jane, oh god!” The girls could see Chloe’s uncle Tommy leaning over a familiar looking body as it withered and gasped. Once they got closer they saw Jane laying on the ground breathing hard and holding her torso, which was losing blood quickly. 

“Chloe...Aubrey...Babies, please come,” She sobbed opening her arms for the girls to come closer. “Uncle Tommy… He’s going to...take care of you for a while… I’ve got to go away though babies. I love you both so so much... I love...you...both,” She let out a wheezing breath, closing her eyes before going limp. 

“Come on girls... We have to go. No, we have to go now. I’m so sorry, but we have to go,” Tommy said through sobs of his own as he picked up two crying little girls and ran. 

* * *

Radio News Broadcast: “...The number of confirmed deaths has passed two hundred. The governor has  
called a state of emergency…”

Radio News Broadcast: “...There were hundreds and hundreds of bodies lining the streets…”

Radio News Broadcast: “...Panic spread worldwide after a leaked report from the World Health  
Organization showed that the latest vaccination tests have failed…”

Radio News Broadcast: “...with the bureaucrats out of power we can finally take the necessary  
steps to…”

Radio News Broadcast: “...Los Angeles is now the latest city to be placed under martial law. All  
residents are required to report to their designated quarantine--...”

 

Radio News Broadcast: “...Riots have continued for a third consecutive day and winter rations are  
at an all-time low…”

Radio News Broadcast: “....A group calling themselves the Fireflies have claimed responsibility for  
both attacks…”

Radio News Broadcast: “...Their public charter calls for the return of all branches of government…”

 

Radio News Broadcast: “...Demonstrations broke out following the execution of six more alleged  
Fireflies…”

Leader of fireflies: “...You can still rise with us. Remember, when you're lost in the darkness...  
look for the light. Believe in the Fireflies…”


	2. 20 Years Later: Summer

20 YEARS LATER: SUMMER

Aubrey awoke with a start when she heard an obnoxious pounding on her door. Sitting up she noticed the other half of her bed was empty, making her grimace. She knew exactly who was knocking and where they had been previously.

“Chloe! I told you not to let me sleep through the drop! Why the hell did you go alone?” The blonde asked incredulously as she ripped open the door. 

“Morning to you too sleepy head, and I couldn’t possibly wake you! You looked so peaceful,” Chloe winked at her walking into the room. Aubrey immediately took notice of the cut on her girlfriend’s cheek, and the lack of cargo on her. 

“Let me guess, the deal went south and those dicklicks got away with our pills?” Aubrey rolled her eyes, getting a cloth to clean Chloe’s wound.

“Very funny. The deal went fine Bree, and before you ask, I got jumped by a couple of Robert’s guys. Which leads me to another interesting fact: I know where he’s hiding,” The redhead’s megawatt smile took over her face, as disbelief spread over Aubrey’s. 

“No way, we’ve been looking for months. Are those two assholes still with us?” Aubrey asked clearly trying to figure out which question was more important. 

“I got the drop on him from one of my connections in town. He and pretty much all of his men are down at the docks. And you know I wouldn’t still be here if I left them alive. Come on Bree, you know me better than that,” Chloe watched as her girlfriend started thinking out a new plan of action. 

“Okay… When do you want to go and pay him a visit?” 

“Right now works for me! Let’s go,” 

They walked out of the apartment and down into the street. When they were younger it was hard to ignore random sweeps that the military would do, dragging people out of their homes and occasionally killing them. Now it was just easier to ignore the people being dragged out onto the street next to them. Sometimes though it’s hard for Chloe to pull her eyes away. Sure you can’t have infected running around the QZ but there must be a more humane way to take care of them. She heard one of the scanners go off as a soldier pressed it against a young woman’s neck. The redhead looked away as they pushed the woman on the ground and executed her. She heard one of the other men being scanned get up and try to run away. Aubrey grabbed her hand as they heard three gunshots cut through the air. Neither had to look back to know what happened. 

“Let me see your ID’s,” A guard asked as they walked up to the checkpoint. Chloe pulled out both of their papers and handed them to the man. Both were acutely aware of a giant armored truck moving into the next sector of the QZ with them, something seemed off about it but they both thought to just stay clear of it. 

“There you go!” She quipped happily. Somehow the redhead never lost her smile, if anything Aubrey found that her girlfriend tried every day to find something new to smile about. 

“What’s your business here?” The guard asked, a scowl on his face. 

“Got the day off for once! We want to visit a friend.” Chloe lied, her smile getting tighter. 

“Alright, everything checks out, move on through,” The girls didn’t even get to thank the man as they started to walk forward before the military truck delivering rations was attacked; a bomb went off making the girls scramble back. There were screams about fireflies, and getting the upper hand, but Chloe was a little more focused on the ringing in her ears as she tried to keep up with Aubrey. Aubrey quickly got the door open to a familiar building and they ran inside. 

“You’re bleeding, patch up. Here,” Chloe said examining Aubrey, she had a small gash on her arm; probably from shrapnel. Handing her a small bandage, she watched as the blonde tied the bandage around her forearm tightly. Nodding when she approved of the other girl’s job, they then started off down the hallway.

“So I guess we are going with plan B, all the checkpoints are going to be closed after this. We’re going to have to go around the outside,” Aubrey rolled her eyes. Chloe shrugged and nodded. 

“Outside the wall…?” Chloe asked tentatively, sure the quarantine zone sucked, but outside it was scary. 

“I mean unless you want to let Robert go? It may be disgusting down in the tunnels but I don’t want to cut our losses” Aubrey said quirked an eyebrow 

“I mean it’s an easier way to get to our gear rather than doubling back?” Chloe laughed at the blonde’s disgusted face. 

“Yeah but everyone who passes through the tunnel dumps there trash there and it’s gross.”

“Hey Aubrey, Chloe did you see that shit?” A girl asked walking up to them from where she was sitting in the hallway. They were in an old apartment building, most of the rooms had been locked and boarded by the military so those who lived here stayed in the hallway unless they could break into a room. 

“We were there Ashley, Hey, how is the east tunnel looking?” Aubrey answered trying to keep the bite out of her tone. 

“Oh it’s clear I just used it. No patrols. Where are you off to?” Ashley asked curiously walking with them down the twisting halls. 

“Gunna go pay Robert a visit,” Chloe said bouncing next to her girlfriend taking her hand.

“You too?” The other girl asked. 

“Who else is looking for him?” Aubrey replied going through a mental list of competition she didn’t want to deal with. 

“Uh, Marlene. She’s been asking around, trying to find him.”

“Marlene? What do the fireflies need with Robert?” 

“You think she’d tell me?” Ashley scoffed in disbelief. 

“Well what did you tell her?” Chloe bit down on her lip. She didn’t want to deal with the fireflies and she knew Bree didn’t either. 

“The truth, I mean I have no idea where he is hiding,” She shrugged. The other girls both sighed in relief hoping that Queen Firefly had no idea where Robert is. 

“Good. Stay out of trouble okay? Military’s going to be out in force soon.” Aubrey smiled at her not wanting the younger girl to get hurt. Ashley nodded and turned the corner entering a small room with the girls. A smaller blonde girl sitting on the couch perked up when her friend entered. 

“I’ll be safe guys. Hey Jessica the halls are clear if you wanna nap for a bit. I also brought some food.” The smaller girl, Jessica, smiles brightly and waved at them as she scoots over on the couch for Ashley. 

“Hi! The tunnels are clear, no signs of military or infected. Do I smell bread?” She asked excited once her friend cuddles up with her. Chloe and Aubrey smiled at the two girls, it was always nice to see what they could consider normalcy. 

The redhead waved over her girlfriend to help her move a heavy entertainment center away from the wall. Behind it was a hidden hole in the wall that lead to under the building. Jumping down, both girls held back a dry heave as the stale air hit them.

“God, I told you they are throwing their shit away down here!” Aubrey gagged on the air. Chloe just shrugged and moved on. Walking over to the far wall the redhead started the old generator making the tunnel spring to life. 

“Come on before you puke. Are backpacks are here still, thank god” Chloe laughed taking Aubrey’s hand and leading her over to a workbench in the corner. They had hid their extra supplies in backpacks down there, this included an extra pair of clothes, flashlights and batteries, gasmask, and a 9mm pistol each. It’s the easiest gun to get your hands on in this world, and a necessity to survival.

“Not a lot of ammo..” Aubrey inquired as she loaded her gun. She has a total of four bullets. If they’re lucky they’ll be able to pick some up as they go. 

“Make your shots count then,” Chloe smirked with a wink. Suddenly her stomach dropped. When you go day by day with your main concern being surviving sometimes you forget some situations are more dangerous than others. This isn’t just illegally selling medicine to some family, this is going to be a shoot out. 

“Chlo..? What’s wrong my love?” Aubrey asked catching her girlfriend’s sullen look. Putting her stuff down she walked over to the redhead and wrapped her arms around her waist. 

“We just haven’t done something like this in a long time, I love you,” When she is scared or sad Chloe always gets this small, quiet voice, which contrasts her normal sunny disposition. It mirrors her absolute silence when they outbreak started. 

“Hey, we are going to be fine Chloe,” Aubrey smiles and tucks a piece of hair behind the other girls ear. “I love you too sweetheart.” With those words she leaned in and kissed her softly. Chloe wraps her arms around the blonde’s neck and leans back on the workbench. She pulls away from the other girl before anything can get too heated and smiles lovingly at the blonde.

“Thank you baby, now let’s go kick ass. Boost me up?” Aubrey laughs at how quickly her girlfriend’s attitude can change. They walk over to the exit of the tunnel which is a high ledge. Aubrey laces her fingers together and nods, running up Chloe steps in her hands and gets pushed up onto the ledge. Chloe holds her hand down and grunts as she pulls Aubrey up. They end up in a crawl space with a makeshift roof. Pushing it up softly Chloe checks their surroundings to make sure they are in the clear.

“We’re good, you ready?” Aubrey nods and they both hop out and take a deep breath. The tunnel lets out into an old pizzaria, nature had taken over flooding into the small dilapidated building. Trees and grass had started growing in the restaurant and out of the giant holes in the wall it was beautiful how the sun fell into the building. That was one thing that Chloe loved about this world, her silver lining besides Aubrey, how nature took the world back in the chaos. In the most dilapidated and broken down buildings you could always fine grass, moss, a tree, it showed life in the darkest places. Chloe loved it. 

“We haven’t been out here in awhile,” Chloe quipped with a small smile.

“It’s almost like we’re on a date,” Aubrey looked behind and winked at Chloe making her blush.

“Well, I am the romantic type,” This made the blonde chuckle and blush back. 

“You’ve got your ways.. Where did we leave the ladder?” The small gully was sunken in and grown over. The only access to the surrounding buildings is via a hole in the wall of a second floor landing. Chloe just shrugs and they look around, all the tall grass and slabs of broken pavement make it difficult to find. 

“Got it!” Came a sudden grunt from Chloe who was crouched behind a car. She pops up holding the offending object and Aubrey walks over to help guide her to the opening of the building. “Lady’s first?”

“Why thank you my love,” Aubrey giggled pecking the redheads lips as she climbed up the ladder. “Even though I know you just want to stare at my ass,” 

“You know me so well,” Chloe said as she checked her girlfriend out before climbing up the ladder behind her. 

When they get into the building it resembles all the others, broken down and ruined. Walking through Aubrey made sure to check the rooms they passed through for anything they could use. One room made her heart fall upon entrance though, it had a few bunk beds placed around the room, and painted handprints on the walls. The thing was that the handprints were too small to be anyone else’s but children. Having grown up in this world it really was terrible when she saw other kids who also have to endure it. It was worse when there was no recent signs of kids anywhere to be seen.

“You coming baby?” Chloe’s voice floated in from the staircase outside of the room. Taking a deep breath the blonde called back yes and went to head out. She walked out and saw her girlfriend peering down the broken staircase below them with her flashlight. 

“What’s wrong?” Aubrey asked worried. 

“Spores, and a lot of them.” Chloe sighed going into her backpack and pulling out a gasmask. 

“No, but the path was clear last time?” Aubrey growled putting on her own gas mask. A few years after the infection broke out they learned it was caused by a certain type of fungus that affected the human brain. If a body wasn’t strong enough to hold the infection the host would find a dark corner and die, causing the spores to spread. Considering the bottom half of this building was dark and partially underground it was the perfect breeding ground for spores. 

“Let’s just go, where there are spores there are infected.” the redhead sighed as she dropped down the broken staircase onto the bottom floor. She was right, as soon as they both dropped down they could hear the infected monsters groaning and running. What scared them though was the yells of people who clearly weren’t infected. It was easy for them to hear that there were three infected in the area, silently they agreed that they would get one each and tag team the last. Both quietly crept up behind a gurgling, twitching being and quickly wrapped their arms around their throats. It didn’t take long for the life to leave their dead bodies and the girls were quickly able to take out the last one together. 

“That was easier than I expected, they were only runners” Chloe said stretching out her shoulders. 

“Yeah, but I would be more comfortable getting out of here,” the blonde grumbled. Looking down she looted some ammo off a few of the bodies and stood up. She tossed some to Chloe as they walked up another staircase to the next level. Checking in a room to the side they fine a small first-aid kit and a note. Chloe, the ever motherly one shoved the first-aid kit in her bag while Aubrey read the note. 

Hey Brother,

We were so close. I'm sitting outside the walls knowing I'll never see the inside of the zone. While waiting for the smuggler to show up, we heard a squad of soldiers approaching. In our panic, we ducked into this building in hopes of hiding from them. None of us noticed the spores until it was too late. We're all infected - we have a few hours, maybe a day at most. I hope the smuggler is still coming so that I can at least pass this note to you. I should've listened to you and come to the zone with you when I had the chance. Now it's too late. Take care.

-Mark

“God, it may be awful in the zone but it’s better than being out here,” Aubrey sighs, these notes aren’t hard to find. The ones that are filled with regret, torn families, loss. They are heartbreaking and it sucks when you come across one. 

“I know honey, don’t worry we will be back in the zone soon enough. We find Robert and we come back,” Chloe says as she pulls the blonde into a hug. She nods in agreement and they move on. Soon enough they are jumping to the ground out of the spore infested building out into an open alleyway. 

“Finally some fresh air. That’s the one thing about the outside I love. I hate the smell of the city.” Chloe says taking her mask off and inhaling the clean air deeply. Sure they were still technically in Boston but with the lack of people like in the zone it definitely smelled better. 

“Maybe you should ask CR for some of those air fresheners?” Aubrey asked laughing at her girlfriends antics watching as she spun with her arms outstretched in the open area. 

“You know, if they weren’t expired, that’d be a great idea,” Chloe giggled once she stopped spinning. Together they walked hand in hand through the next building, the plank they used to cross the broken floor had fallen so Chloe had to jump down and retrieve it. Once they were able to cross the gap, they moved to the next building which was an abandoned office. The girls ventured into a small office which bled out into a small courtyard. Softly Chloe knocked on the door. A little boy no older than seven opened it and looked at her curiously. 

“Hey little man,” She smiled at him holding up a few ration cards, pulling them back when he reached for them. “No soldiers, none of Robert’s guys. Got it?” The boy nodded and took the cards. Shutting the door he ran off to check. 

“I remember having to do that job. God it sucked,” Aubrey sighed looing at the door where the boy had been. Kids in this world had it arguably worse, they were either orphans in the QZ’s serving in military schools, or trying their best to survive outside the protection of the walls. There was two knocks on the opposite side of the door and that told them it was okay to move out. Once they left, the silence they had been traveling in was broken. The courtyard and surrounding allies and buildings had been turned into a makeshift market/living quarters. 

“Hey Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. How you doin’ pretty lady? I heard you got some merchandise?” A man said walking up to the girls. He was a junky that often tried to buy pills off them. 

“Not now Terrance,” Chloe said rolling her eyes and trying to walk forward. 

“C’mon no no, I’ve got a few cards..!” Terrance pleaded grabbing Aubrey’s arm and yanking her back. The blonde was quick to pull her arms away and pin the man to the wall. 

“Not. Now. Terrance.” She growled making sure he knew they were serious. “And never, grab either of us again. Understand?” She snapped. He nodded and she promptly let go pulling Chloe away so she wouldn’t start a fight in the middle of the slum. 

“Fine, whatever. You don’t have to get all huffy-puffy about it.” He said fixing his jacket as they left. The slum was a little busier than usual. They walk through passing by a dirt fight going on in an enclosed courtyard. Chloe pauses for a second to stare getting annoyed at these strangers. Why would you willingly want to fight and hurt yourself in a world that’s more than willing to do that to you already. People were standing in a circle around them cheering them on. Most likely betting on a winner. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” A man said standing up and in Chloe’s way.

“Malik, sit down. It’s Chloe and I.” Aubrey said standing behind Chloe glaring at the man. Realization dawned on Chloe when she recognized the man from when they were younger. He came to the Boston QZ when they did. 

“Oh, sorry you two. I didn’t recognize you. Been awhile..” He said scratching the back of his neck embarrassed. “Go ahead.” he said sheepishly stepping aside to let them pass. Malik had been guarding a smaller part of the living quarters. It was primarily made out of shipping containers and the side of a couple buildings. There was a man standing under a tunnel made by containers. Chloe nodded her head toward him silently telling Aubrey to follow her. 

“I’m looking for Robert.” She said quietly not looking at the man. She flashed three ration cards in front of his face. “He pass through here?”

“Half an hour ago. He went back to the wharf. He’s there now.” The man said shaking Chloe’s hand taking the cards. 

“Alright let’s go.” Chloe said cheerily looking at Aubrey with her bright smile. Only she could smile and bounce around even when they were pretty much going on a hit mission. Aubrey couldn’t help a small smile tug at her lips as she rolled her eyes. 

“This is going to be interesting,” She muttered and followed the redhead.


	3. Robert’s End, Beca’s Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I started off hating this chapter but it might be my favorite so far. I hope you like it! also sorry for the semi-late update I got pretty sick. Enjoy!

It wasn’t hard for the girls to make their way to the docks. They weren’t very far and thankfully they hadn’t run into any of Robert’s men yet. Or Fireflies for that matter. They were almost there when three men walked out and stopped them.

“Here we go,” Aubrey rolled her eyes, “Let us through.” 

“You guys need to turn around and head back if you know what’s good for you,” The center guy said with a menacing voice. 

“Our beef isn’t even with you. We just want Robert. You don’t want to do this,” Aubrey said trying to be as diplomatic as she can.

“Turn the fuck around and leave now.” The man snapped getting aggravated

“We aren’t going anywhere without talking to Robert,” Aubrey snapped back. 

“Bitch. I will bash your skull in unless you turn around and get your dumb ass out of here,” He growled pointing a finger at her. 

“Oh my god, fuck this!” Chloe groaned pulling out her gun and pulling the trigger. Her aim was between the man’s eyes, and she rarely missed.

“God damn it Chlo!” Aubrey gasped as the two of them dove behind old Jersey barriers as the man fell to the ground. The two other lackies that were still alive hid behind a wall occasionally peeking around to send out a loose shot. 

“What? You were taking too long!” Chloe yelled back checking to see how much ammo she had on her. “There are only two, normal plan?” Aubrey nodded and the redhead smiles brightly. They crouched and made their way around to corner the men quietly. Of course they were still firing blindly where the girls had been, it almost made Aubrey laugh with how dumb they were.

“I’m going to kill you!” One of the men screamed as a bullet zoomed past Aubrey’s ear. They were catching on, that was good. Once the girls both had a man in their sight they stood up and fired off one shot each. Both men fell with a dull thud on the ground. 

“Okay, three down. Hopefully we will only have Robert we will have to deal with now.” Aubrey said tightening her ponytail. Chloe couldn’t help but smile softly at her girl. Bree was always calculated, focused. It balanced the redhead’s impulsive and nearly reckless behavior. She has calmed down a lot since they were teens traveling with Uncle Tommy. She used to have a weak stomach and they would fight a lot because Chloe was too loose and unguarded, where as Aubrey was uptight and rigid. They learned from each other as they grew though, Chloe payed more attention, and Aubrey learned that she could find peace in a world of chaos. 

“I love you Bree, we balance each other pretty well babygirl!” She beamed, Aubrey looked at her a crimson blush covering her cheeks. 

“Shut up...I love you too,” Aubrey said, a small smile breaking out over her lips. Chloe skipped over and leaned in pecking her lips, feeling a little teasing she leaned in a bit down on the blonde’s lip lightly. Groaning Aubrey pulled back and lightly touched her tingling lip. “Okay we really have to go now because once we get back home you’re mine,”

It was Chloe’s turn to smile shyly and blush. They headed out and soon enough they find themselves in an old wearhouse. There were a few men scattered about, five or six from what Aubrey could count. They both crouched behind a dusty pallet Chloe covering the blonde protectively as they both whispered their best plan of action. 

“Okay so I see a few empty bottles over there… Maybe we should throw one or two and make them gather before we take them out? Then whoever didn’t come check the noise we corner. I see a staircase over there, it might be better to get on the high ground.” Aubrey said strategically as she peered around the corner of the pallet. 

“Sounds perfect to me, these guys look heavily armed I’m sure we could get some really good ammo off them,” Chloe bit her lip looking at the men as they patrolled around.

“Okay on three. One...two-” 

“On three or after three?” Chloe asked cutting off the blonde who looked at her in annoyance. 

“Screw it, let’s just do it.” Aubrey said and they both grabbed a bottle tossing them across the room to the corner. 

“What the hell was that?” One of the guys yells, another shrugs and they both go over to look in the corner. 

“Sounded like glass..” Another muttered as he walked over to investigate. 

“Three is better than none,” Chloe whispered quietly when no one else came to aid the men. Aubrey nodded in agreement and slowly they stalked up behind the three men they strangled two of them before Aubrey took out an old pocket knife and killed the last man. Looking around they decided to split up and take out the last three. Chloe picks up some ammo from a few of the bodies and tosses it to Aubrey. Pulling out their guns they load them and both sneak to opposite sides of the wearhouse. Chloe climbs up the stairs to get a good look into the bottom floor, while Aubrey hid behind a few crates aiming for one of the guys with his back to her. Looking up at Chloe for confirmation, the redhead gave a small nod and Aubrey was quick to fire off a shot but one of the men came out of nowhere and grabbed her from behind. This made her miss and hit the back of his leg, Chloe quickly fired her gun killing the injured man instantly. 

“Come on out Chloe! We know you’re here!” The man holding Aubrey called up to the second floor. He nodded at the only other man alive to climb the stairs. It didn’t take long for Aubrey to spot her girlfriends hair and knew she was most likely already prepared to take the guy walking up the stairs out. 

“Let me go, and we won’t have to hurt you,” Aubrey grunted, struggling to get away. He didn’t have any weapon drawn on her, just his arm around her throat. ‘Idiot’ she thought to herself. 

“Not a chance Aubrey, Robert told us about you. Our only job is too keep you away from him. And I plan on getting paid,” he said breathing in her ear creepily. She didn’t like that he knew their names, that means most of Robert’s men knew. Slowly Aubrey reached into her pocket grabbing her knife. She was able to open it without him noticing. Once the man was in Chloe’s sight they both locked eyes and nodded. At once, Chloe shot the man in the chest then the head and he fell over the guardrail, meanwhile Aubrey plunged the knife into her captures thigh making him yell and let go. Before she could pull out her gun a shot rang out and he fell to the ground.

“Chloe?! I totes had that under control,” Aubrey pouted looking down at the guy who was bleeding and his body twitched a few times before laying still. 

“I know you did baby! But he grabbed you and I wasn’t okay with that..” Chloe bit her lip as she stood from her hiding spot dusting off her old jeans. Aubrey let her shoulders drop and she smiled softly at the other girl. 

“Thank you,” She said gently once the other girl bounced over to her side. “We should have brought more people, if this is what we are running into outside of the docks, I can’t imagine the security there will be when we get there,”

“Nah, they’d only slow us down,” Chloe smiled brightly completely confident in their ability to take on whatever was coming to them. They walked over to a garage door and opened it as quietly as they could. The other side revealed a huge dock crawling with easily fifty plus men. 

“I take it back, maybe we do need a little extra help..” Chloe said biting her lip and looking around. “Oh! There’s Robert,” She perked up pointing at the man in question. He was a greasy man, his hair was pulled back in a gross ponytail, and his smile was slimy. 

“Okay there are way too many to go in guns blazing. He just went through a door back through that wearhouse. I’m thinking if we sneak around those open containers and quietly take our whoever gets in out way we won’t have too much of an issue,” Aubrey muttered as she looked around for the best plan. The dock really was swarmed and with Robert behind a closed door that only made their job that much harder. 

“Or, instead of that we could just go in, take everyone down and then only have to worry about Robert!” Chloe chirped thinking that was the best plan in the whole world. She looked over and shrunk back when her girlfriend was giving her the trademark glare of the century. 

“In, out, done Chlo. I want to go home, preferably alive,” She said stretching out her shoulders. Chloe rolled her eyes but nodded following along as Aubrey made her way down onto the dock quietly. Looking around they saw a clear path to an open container and quickly ran to it. There was a man idly walking past the container, he had a decent sized metal pipe in his hands. It didn’t take him long to spot the two new-comers in the darkness. 

“Who the hell are-” Aubrey was quick to draw her knife and grab him killing him quietly. Chloe swiftly picked up the discarded pipe shrugging at Aubrey’s questioning glance.

“Always good to have a weapon that isn’t a gun.” She returned looking around the wall to see if it were safe to move. “Come on, it’s clear.”

They ran behind another container managing not to catch anyone’s attention. There were so many people around it was a long shot they actually made it to the door without anyone else noticing. 

“The path is clear but there are only crates between here and the next cover. We can make that work right?” Aubrey asked with mild concern. There were more men in this area walking idly trying to watch for intruders like themselves. 

“Yeah I think we can, if we can make it to the warehouse it looks like there are only four or five guards in the way over there. As far as over here is concerned though...” Chloe hummed thinking meticulously. Getting an idea she reached over and grabbed a brick that was laying in a pile of rubbish. Cocking her arm back she threw it as hard as she could in the opposite direction. It shattered and that caught the attention of several guys as they ran over to check the noise.

“What the fuck? Where did that come from?” A man in an orange hat yelled over to his buddies. Luckily this managed to attract more attention leaving their path almost clear. The girls didn’t hesitate to run to the crates, only stopping for a second to take cover. Once they were sure it was still clear they made their way to the warehouse. Two of the men guarding the door had gone to check the noise. That left them with only two to deal with. 

“Only one of them has a gun..” Chloe pointed out, it was true the other two men only had a plank of wood and a pipe respectively. Taking out her trusty knife Aubrey nodded to the man closest to them for Chloe to get while she worried about the man with the gun. It didn’t take long for all three men to be on the ground. Aubrey was able to find a key to the door in the gunman’s pocket. 

“You ready? Here’s the grand finale,” Aubrey said as she unlocked the door and they let themselves into a small waiting room.

“Hell yes, we totes have this under control,” Chloe said happily. They walked over and stood on either side of a small office door and Aubrey counted down from three before letting it swing open. 

“Get back! Get the fuck back!” Robert’s voice shouted, shots rang out and soared past their heads as he fired out the open door. 

“We just want to talk, Robert!” Chloe called in her sweetest calmest tone once the shots died down. 

“We ain’t got fuckin’ nothin’ to talk about!” He yelled back firing off a few more shots. 

“Just put your gun down!” Aubrey called back getting impatient her back still firmly pressed against the wall. 

“Yeah? Go fuck yourself!” The older man called before shooting one last time and throwing the gun when he realizes he’s out. 

“Fuck off, he’s running?!” Aubrey snapped, and both girls took off into the office after him. There was a door that was posing as his escape route in the back of the room, he left it open the girls were quick to follow through it. 

“Robert!” Chloe called as they chased after him in the twisting halls of the warehouse’s offices. 

“Screw you Chloe!” He yelled as he ran into an alleyway hopping into another building. They were right behind him when suddenly he pulled a hard left and disappeared into an empty room. The girls were at a momentary loss before they noticed an open window a few feet above their heads. Chloe quickly boosted Aubrey up and out before jumping up and pulling herself through. 

There Robert was shaking a chain link fence, he had turn the wrong way and found himself stuck. “Come on, come on, come on!” He yelled. 

“Hello Robert,” Chloe said a small smirk playing at her lips. 

“Chlo, Bree..No hard feelings right?” He said with a sigh. Turning around he gave them a weak half-smile. Slowly he started walking toward them, or rather, toward the open end of the alley. 

“None at all,” Chloe said passing the pipe she had picked up back and forth between her hands. Aubrey watched from behind. She was furious with Robert for going after her girl, and she was sure as hell going to get her hits in. But, this was Chloe’s vendetta first. 

“Well...Alright then.” He said calmly. Suddenly he tried to take off running past them, but Chloe was too fast. She swung the pipe in her hand so fast Robert didn’t even regester what hit him until he was on the ground. His shins were throbbing and they were definitely bleeding, he yelped in pain from his place on the cement. “Ah! God damnit!” He cried out. 

“We missed you,” Chloe chirped, her happiness a facade for once. 

“Look, whatever you heard...it ain’t true okay? I just want to say-” 

“The guns. Our merchandise from Cynthia Rose. You want to tell us where the guns are?” Chloe said cutting him off. Yes she was more angry with the trying to kill her thing, but it’s always better to cover the basics first. 

“Yeah sure, but..it’s complicated. Alright?” Aubrey and Chlo shared a look and the blonde walked over to him, “Look, alright. Just hear me out on this-” He pleaded but Aubrey didn’t have patience for his rambling and she let the heel of her boot collide with his nose and he screamed out as he started to bleed. “Fuck! Ah, stop. Stop. Stop!” He cried as the blonde kneeled next to him and twisted his arm holding it uncomfortably against the pavement. 

“Quit your squrimin’,” Chloe’s tone was cold, her uncles southern twang coming out in her voice. She kneeled next to him and Aubrey, taking out her gun, looking into his eyes. “As you were saying?”

“I sold ‘em,” Robert sighed knowing there was no way out of this. Chloe looked at him in disbelief before turning her gaze on Aubrey who was seething. 

“Excuse me?” the redhead asked indignantly. 

“I didn’t have much of a choice. I owed someone.” He said in a pleading voice. 

“You owed us!” Chloe snapped. “I’d say you bet on the wrong horse.”

“I just need more time. Just give me a week!” He begged yelping as Aubrey put more pressure on his twisted arm. 

“You know. I might have done that if you hadn’t tried to fucking kill me,” Chloe growled her true anger showing for the first time. 

“Come on! It wasn’t like that-”

“Who has our guns?” The redhead snapped. A beat of silence followed as Robert collected himself for what was to come. 

“I can’t,” He uttered with bated breath. Chloe gave a look of pure exhaustion to Aubrey and nodded to his arm. “Just gimme a couple of days and I-” He let out a shriek of pain as Aubrey kneeled on his elbow wrenching his arm up effectively breaking it. 

“Who. Has. Our. Guns?” Chloe said slowly, dangerously. 

“It’s the Fireflies. I owed the Fireflies.” He said through tears as he clutched his broken arm. 

“What?” Chloe said an unfamiliar growl coming from her throat. 

“Look, they are all basically dead. We can just - just go in there and, finish ‘em off. We get the guns! Whadaya say?” He asked trying to convince them as a last resort. The girls just share a look as they stand up. “Come on! Fuck those Fireflies! Let’s go get them!”

“That is a stupid fucking idea.” Chloe said rolling her eyes. Without another word she aimed her gun and shot off one single shot killing Robert instantly. 

“Well, now what?”” Aubrey asked gently. Chloe was still fuming and the blonde knew she had to be careful or the other girl might start crying. 

“We go find our merchandise,” Chloe sighed and she started pacing. 

“How?” Came the blonde’s quiet reply.

“I have no clue. Go and explain it to them? Look, let’s go find us a Firefly,” Chloe said rubbing her eyes feeling tears coming on in her frustration. 

“You won’t have to look very far.” A small voice came from behind them making the two girls whip around. There stood the leader of the Fireflies, Marlene herself, was standing behind them. She looked worse for the wear, holding onto a bleeding wound on her side. 

“Well, there you go. Queen Firefly herself,” Aubrey said with a hint of exasperation in her voice. 

“Why are you here?” Marlene asked curiously. 

“Business.” Chloe replied shortly. “You’re not looking so hot…”

Marlene looks down at her wound but chooses to ignore it. “Where’s Robert?’ She asks shortly. Chloe moves out of the way raising her arm to show the man’s body on the ground. Marlene just chuckles and shakes her head even though there is no humor in the situation. 

“I needed him alive,” She said looking between the girls.

“Yeah, but the guns he gave you? They weren’t his to sell. I want them back,” Aubrey said just wanting to go home at this point. Chloe on the other hand looked like she was ready to get in a fist fight with anyone who challenged her. 

“Doesn’t work like that Aubrey,” Marlene said like she was explaining a concept to a child. 

“The hell it doesn’t” Chloe snapped. 

“No, I bought those guns. You want them back? Then you’ll have to earn them,” Marlene grumbles clearly having no patience for the two other women. 

“Okay fine, how many cards do you want..?” Chloe asked taking her backpack off in order to look inside. The older woman scoffed. 

‘“I don’t give a damn about ration cards,” She paused weighing out her options. “I need you to smuggle something out of the city. You do that? I’ll give you your guns back, and then some.”

Aubrey and Chloe looked at each other having a silent discussion on what they wanted to do. Finally Aubrey took a step forward and stared the Queen down. 

“How do we know you have them? This seems like a really cheap way to get us to do free work. The way I hear it the military’s been wiping you guys out,” she stated in a calm icey tone. Chloe swears that if the outbreak never happened Bree would have made an amazing lawyer. Not that she’s ever seen a lawyer in person, but she’s heard stories. 

“You’re right about that…” Marlene sighed her tone almost defeated. “I will show you the weapons myself and-”

“Search the area!” A voice rang out in the distance. It was the military doing their normal sweep outside the wall. 

“I gotta move. Now. What’s it going to be?” Marlene said backing away looking at the others expectantly. 

“I want to see those guns.” Chloe said. 

“Marlene nodded and motioned for them to follow. “Come on then there’s not much time.”

Sharing a look the girls decided it was now or never and hurried quickly behind Marlene. They were in a rather closed off area and they could hear the military trucks circling around the outside. As though she was reading their minds Marlene motioned them over behind a couple of old crates. 

“I know a way around this, come on.” She lead them down a small alley, the back was blocked by a stack of tall crates. Aubrey and Chloe shared a momentary look of worry, had they been lead into a trap? Suddenly Marlene straggled to climb up on a crate her wound dripping blood as she did so. “Blondey, come help me,” She panted. 

Looking up the Aubrey could see a ladder on top of the next crate. Marlene would have to jump to grab it but she just had to stand on her toes. Hopping up onto the box with Chloe close behind her she reached up and pulled the ladder down. Marlene climbed up first, then Bree motioned for Chloe to go, then she followed. She may be grumpy but the view Chloe gave her definitely helped cheer her up a little. 

“Where exactly are we going?” Aubrey inquired. The ladder had lead to an old fire escape which Marlene was currently climbing. 

“A small hideout, not much further.” Came a short reply from the woman. They soon found themselves on a rooftop overlooking Boston. Before Chloe could make a joke about the unspecified location an explosion in the distance made them jump back. Their elevated height made it easy to see the blast and the smoke billowing up from the buildings.

“Holy shit, is that your people?” Chloe asked looking at the explosion in surprise and sadness. 

“What’s left of them,” Marlene sighed sounding defeated. “Why do you think I’m turning you you guys? You weren’t my first pick. This way.”

They hopped to the next rooftop and began to walk across. Chloe was getting sick of the silence and decided to strike up a conversation. 

“So...why now?” Chloe asked walking up next to Marlene. Sure Chloe and Bree were well known smugglers and had some influence over the area, but hardly enough for the Fireflies to care. 

“We’ve been quiet. Been planning on leaving the city, but they need a scapegoat. The’ve been trying to rile us up,” Marlene said a hint of bite in her words. 

Chloe hummed thinking about the situation. “Looks like they did,”

“We are trying to defend ourselves,” Marlene grumbled. 

Chloe could tell that she was done talking and sighed. Hanging back she smiled at her girlfriend taking her hand. Marlene was far enough ahead for her not to worry about them talking. 

“Do you think this is a good idea?” She whisper quietly to the blonde. 

“I’m not sure… We would be out so much money if we lost those guns. However, I have no idea how difficult it would be to smuggle something out. Nor to we know how big her cargo is.” It was clear she had been thinking about this. Marlene found an open skylight window and jumped down it as lightly as she could, stumbling a little at the landing. 

“Well do you think we should turn back?” Chloe asked before they followed her down.

Aubrey was quiet for a second, mulling it over. “No… No we should see the damage and then we can decide.” Chloe nodded agreeing that was probably their best bet. Jumping down they saw Marlene waiting for them at a heavy sliding metal door.

“Chloe give me a hand with this,” the older woman asked, the redhead nodded and walked over. Once it was pushed open they found themselves under a bridge.. “Hold up, Soldiers.” Marlene said quietly as she pressed her back against the wall. 

“That’s the way out, the door under the bridge.” She explained, both women looked around the corner of the wall to see a small door. But of course it couldn’t be as easy as just walking across, there was a thirty foot drop off and gushing water about ten feet in front of them. 

“I...really don’t like these odds,” Chloe bit her lip looking at their chances. 

“We can sneak by them. I know it’s not your style but it will be the quickest and most efficient way. There’s a staircase that leads up to the bridge around this wall. From there we will be able to cross and get to the door. Just please, do not make a scene.” She said with exasperation.

“Make a scene? What do you think we are? Performers?” Chloe asked with a small giggle. Marlene simply rolled her eyes and made sure the coast was clear. 

“Okay let’s go,” True to her word it was pretty easy to get across. They took out the first two soldiers they came across, but the others we preoccupied and easy to get by. The women made their way down to the door as quickly and discreetly as they could. “Go on, get inside,” 

They hurried into the room, Marlene and Aubrey quick to push anything they could in front of the door. Marlene was looking worse as the time went on, her jacket was soaked in blood and she was huffing. Her dark skin paling with every step. 

“Where are we going Marlene? I swear to god if you die before we get there I will finish off the Fireflies myself.” Aubrey said her frustration showing. 

“This way. We aren’t far now.” Marlene wheezes as she walked on. They found themselves walking up and out of the basement of what probably used to be a restaurant. There was a thick door that lead to the dining room Marlene pushed against it weakly but it wouldn’t budge. “Aubrey, can you help me?” The blonde nodded and came over. Hitting her shoulder into it, it took a couple tries but the door finally swung open. Marlene fell to her knees finally reaching her destination. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Come on, get up. You’re okay,” Aubrey said helping steady the other woman.

“Get the fuck away from her!” Came an unfamiliar voice from behind the blonde. She turned around just in time to see Chloe catch the hand of a small brunette wielding a switchblade. 

“Hey, watch it,” Chloe said her attention turning from the knife to the girl. The redhead let out a small gasp once she met her eyes, they were a stormy dark blue and filled with protective anger. The younger girl was several inches shorter than her, barely five feet if she had to guess. Her chestnut brown hair was swept up into a messy bun, a small scar cutting through her right eyebrow. She was beautiful, that was clear to see. 

“Let her go,” Marlene said through gritted teeth and she used a table to support herself. Chloe looked between the three other women in the room and shoved the girls wrist away. 

“You left a child in charge while you were out?” Aubrey snapped angry as the girl for trying to stab her. 

“She’s not one of mine,” Marlene sighed. 

“And I’m not a child,” The girl snapped back meeting the blonde’s glare. Her gaze shifted to the eldest woman, worry taking over her features. “Shit. Marlene. What happened?” 

“Don’t worry. This is fixable. I got us help,” She replied nodding over at the other two. “But… I can’t come with you.”

“Well then I’m staying dude,” The brunette said indignantly. 

“Beca, we are not going to have another shot at this.” Marlene tried to reason. The way Beca’s shoulder dropped told her that the younger girl knew she was right. Aubrey snapped to attention at this.

“Hey! We’re smuggling her?” She asked incredulously. Chloe was looking between everyone trying to come up with a better plan then the one that was currently presenting itself. 

“There’s a crew of Fireflies that’ll meet you at the Capitol building.” She said softly. 

“No offence Mar, but that’s not exactly close,” Chloe scoffed. Marlene rolled her eyes at the name and continued. 

“You’re capable. You hand her off, come back, the weapons are yours. Double what Robert sold me.” She snapped, she needed them. 

“Speaking of which, where are they?” Aubrey said her impatience getting the best of her. She did not want to play games. 

“Back at my camp.” the older woman stated matter-of-factly. 

“We aren’t smuggling shit until we see them,” Chloe shrugged. When Marlene didn’t say anything she looked around the room and let out a little sigh letting the other woman know she was serious. 

“Fine. You’ll follow me, you can verify the weapons. I can get patched up,” She pointed to Beca her tone serious and unrelenting, “But she’s not crossing into that part of town. I want Aubrey to stay with her,” Marlene said. Both girls jumped up complaining at the same time. 

“Now wait a second, there’s no way I’m babysitting-” 

“Bullshit I am not going with blondey!”

“Beca!” Marlene snapped making the younger girl stop talking. 

“How do you know them?” Beca asked softly after a beat of silence. 

“I was close with Chloe’s uncle Tommy. Said if I was ever in a jam I could rely on him.” Beca nodded along with this explanation, but Chloe got frustrated. Aubrey saw her girlfriends mood change and went to reach for her hand but the redhead had already opened her mouth.

“Yeah? Was that before or after he left your little militia group?” She asked danger dripping from her words. 

“He left you too,” Marlene bit back and Chloe’s entire demeanor deflated from frustration to sadness. “He was a good man.”

Chloe looked over to Aubrey, the redhead’s fight seemingly gone for the moment. “Look...Just take her to the north tunnel and wait for me there,” She said quietly not meeting the the blonde’s eyes. 

“Jesus Christ, Chloe. Are you crazy?” Aubrey asked in disbelief the redhead was willing to go along with this. 

“She’s just cargo my love. Just cargo.” Chloe sighed. 

“Marlene…” Beca said with pleading eyes.

“No more talking. You’ll be fine. Now go with her.” Beca let her shoulders fall. She walked over to the corner shrugging on an old tattered flannel and her backpack looking at Aubrey with an unreadable expression. The blonde was icey, her green eyes help a lot of emotion Beca couldn’t quite understand. She was gorgeous, Beca Had to admit, even if she was a bitch. 

“Do not take long,” Aubrey said as she pulled the redhead into a gentle kiss praying it wouldn’t be their last. Beca didn’t know why but it made her uncomfortable. Made her look away. “And you? Stay close to me,” Aubrey barked at Beca once she pulled away from Chloe. 

 

“Aye aye Captain,” The brunette combated with a half-assed salute and a snarky wink. Aubrey growled, already annoyed with this girl. 

“Let’s go. And those ear monstrosities of yours could get you killed out here.” Aubrey snapped. Beca held back the childlike need to stick her tongue out at the blonde. Choosing rather to give one last pleading look to Marlene. She only nodded toward Aubrey telling her to go. The smaller girl sighed and followed her instructions. She caught the eye of the pretty redhead, Chloe, on her way out and her stomach flipped. She has beautiful sea blue eyes and bright hair complimented them perfectly. She had a small reassuring smile playing at her lips. 

“Don’t worry honey, Bree’s bite is pretty bad but her bark is way worse. You’ll be okay as long as you don’t try to kill her again.” She said with a small wink and Beca felt a little better. And with that the four women set off in their different directions.


	4. Evading the Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dudes! I'm super sorry I suck and this chapter is so late! I'm going to try to be writing a lot more but I'm going to take down my every thursday rule and just post when i can! I'm super sorry and I hope this is okay! Enjoy!

“Whoa, I heard the gunshots but...What happened?” Beca’s voice broke the silence as she and Aubrey left the restaurant. There were bodies scattered around the parking lot they were currently walking through. 

“The Fireflies,” Aubrey bit out, “And the same thing is going to happen to use if we don’t get off the streets.”

“You’re the pro, Captain. I’m just following you,” Beca said a small smirk playing at her lips.

“Stop calling me that,” Aubrey said, she quickly located the small dug in tunnel her and Chloe normally use and made a beeline for it. Beca having to job to keep up with the blonde’s long legs. The short tunnel let out right next to the street. Aubrey looked back to see the smaller girl had fallen a few feet behind and was trying to catch up. ‘Dear God, keep up.”

“I am! It’s not my fault you have giraffe legs!” Aubrey was about to snap back when she saw two military trucks coming.

“Get down and shut up!” Before the smaller woman could say anything Aubrey grabber her arm and pulled her down. Of course, Beca was ridiculously clumsy and ended up tripping on her way down and fell into Aubrey’s lap. Both froze as the trucks passed not wanting to get caught. Both also chose to ignore the red flooding their cheeks at their position. 

“Sorry,” Beca muttered standing quickly after the military had passed. Aubrey nodded and stood after her finally getting a chance to look at the girl. She was hilariously small, her dirty jeans were tight, not uncomfortable though, possibly a child’s size. The blonde had no idea where someone could go to get so many piercings as this girl had in her ears, it was almost impressive. Even the scary ear spike. She was very mouse like in her features, Aubrey would almost go so far as to call her cute. Almost. 

“Are you going to keep staring or are we going to go?” Beca’s snarky voice snapped her from her thoughts. She glared at the girl and huffed walking away. They were in the backlot soon enough. Beca was looking around curiously. “Where are we going?” 

“Up there. That’ll get us to the north tunnel,” Aubrey pointed up to a second story fire escape. 

“Look, I know you’re like as tall as a skyscraper or whatever, but I’m not. How the hell are we supposed to reach that?” Beca asked squinting up at the building her hand covering her eyes from the sun. Aubrey let a small smirk play at her lips from Beca’s short joke. 

“Just, stay there. I know what to do.” The blonde walked around until she spotted the old dumpster that her a Chloe us to get up there. It was a little harder to push herself but not impossible. She pushed it over to just below the platform and climbed up. “You coming?” 

Beca rolled her eyes and hopped up following close behind her. They climbed two sets of stairs and into the building through an exit door. “So, this tunnel. You use it to smuggle things?” Beca’s voiced echoed in the empty halls. 

“Yep,” 

“Like...illegal things?” She inquired.

“Sometimes,” Aubrey muttered not wanting to talk to this girl.

“You ever smuggle a person before?” Beca asked catching up to the taller girl and walking in pace with her. 

“No, that would actually be a first,” Aubrey said mulling over the strange situation her and Chloe were in. They were definitely way over their heads with this one. Aubrey decided it was her turn to ask a question. “What is the deal with you and Marlene anyway?”

She heard Beca sigh and saw her shrug out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t know. We’re friends I guess.” Her voice sounded strained. The blonde didn’t have to be a genius to know that wasn’t the whole truth. 

“Your friend? You’re friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What are you? Like, twelve?” Aubrey scoffed looking at Beca, who looked back at her offended. 

“She knew my mom, and she had been looking after me. And I’m eighteen. Not that that has anything to do with...anything.” She explained looking grumpily down the hall. 

“So where are your parents?” Aubrey asked. 

“Where are anyone’s parents..? They’ve been gone a long time,” Beca sighed, Aubrey’s mind suddenly flashed with memories of her parents before the outbreak, then growing up in this world without them. 

“Hm. So instead of joining the military once you graduated school, you decided to run off with the Fireflies. Is that is?” Aubrey snarked.

“I’m sorry, I’m not supposed to tell you why you’re smuggling me. If that’s what you’re getting it.” Beca said curling her arms around herself closing off from Aubrey. Apparently getting the smaller girl to hold a conversation would not be as easy as she previously thought. 

“Well, luckily one of the best things about my job is I don’t have to know why. And to be honest with you I don’t give two shits what you’re up to.” She snapped back annoyed that the smaller girl was locking her out for some reason. 

“Well great.”

“Good.”

They traveled in annoyed silence down the last few halls. Finally, they found themselves at the end of a dead-end hall. Aubrey opened a door letting them into a small apartment. Beca went over and immediately laid on the old couch in the middle of the room. 

“What are you doing?” Aubrey asked indignantly. 

“Killing time, your girlfriend isn’t going to be back anytime soon. I know how far Marlene’s base is from her. It’ll be a few hours, and I haven’t slept in like two days.” Beca said draping her arm over her eye so that way she would block out the light. 

“Maybe that’s why you’re such a bitch,” Aubrey muttered laying down herself on the love seat opposite the brunette. She saw the smaller girl smirk.

“Maybe. It was nice meeting you Captain.” She muttered back her smirk still on her lips. With that Aubrey could see the younger girl’s breathing even out. She decided she probably could use the rest too. She didn’t open her eyes again until it was dark out, a nightmare had woken her. 

“You mumble in your sleep.” Came Beca’s voice. It took Bree a moment to locate the girl in the dark room, she had moved from the couch to the armchair near the window. “I hate bad dreams.” She muttered. Aubrey found it almost sweet how childish that sounded coming from the snarky girl.

“Yeah, me too,” Aubrey replied rubbing her eyes. Getting up she walked over to see what Beca was staring at so adamantly out the window. They were right outside the QZ’s walls, the city inside was lit up with power but the outside was dark, ominous. 

“You know, I’ve never been this close. To the outside. I mean, look how dark it is. It can’t be any worse out there can it?” Beca asked looking almost scared. For a split second, Aubrey lost her mind and turned to Beca, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

“What the hell do the Fireflies want with you?” Beca opened her mouth to answer but before she got the words out Chloe’s voice rang through the apartment the door swinging open. 

“Hey. Sorry, it took so long. The soldiers are everywhere, oh my god.” 

“Is Marlene okay?” Beca asked immediately. Silently grateful for the opportunity to not have to answer that question. 

“She’ll make it Bec, don’t worry,” Chloe chirped as she bounced over to her girlfriend. She kissed her softly having missed her. “I saw the merchandise. It’s a lot. You sure you want to do this?” 

Aubrey thought for a moment, looking over at Beca who was looking out the window pretending not to listen. “Yeah, this is a good idea.”

“Well alrighty! Let’s go!” Chloe smiled looking between the two of them. These two were going to be difficult to travel with she could already tell. They walk into the next room of the apartment and the redhead stands next to the window looking out it. Beca’s face carried wonder and curiosity when she saw the wall, but Chloe’s held something different. Aubrey expected to see apprehension or nerves, or ever fear when she walked up behind her girlfriend, but instead, she saw excitement. 

“Don’t you think it’s a bit weird they are having us do their smuggling?” Aubrey asked and Chloe shrugged. 

“Marlene wanted to do it herself. We weren’t their first choice or their second. But I saw their camp, Bree, they’ve lost so many people. Beggars can’t be choosers, you know?”

“Okay, I just hope there will be someone there to finish this job.” Aubrey sighed, 

“Someone will be around,” Chloe assured her with a small wink. She walked over to an old bookcase concealing a hole in the wall and pushed it aside. Beca looked at it mildly intrigued, before walking through it. The room they were in now was small, it consisted of a weird metal platform on the floor and a generator next to it. 

“Alright, you two! On the lift!” Chloe smiled brightly, the other two did as they were told. The redhead bounced over to the generator and reached for the pull-cord. Both Aubrey and Beca found themselves staring at the bubbly girl, every time she pulled the cord the muscles in her arm and shoulder tensed and jump. The blonde watched her with a small smirk enjoying the show she was getting, she knew Chloe was just showing off. Beca, on the other hand, took a deep breath trying to force her cheeks to cool down. With a triumphant rawr the generator finally came on and Beca forced herself to look away. Aubrey may seem like a bitch but Beca would never step in on someone else’s relationship. And that definitely had nothing to do with the small voice in the back of her head telling her it wasn’t just Chloe she found attractive. 

“Alright Chlo, get on,” Aubrey said with a smile as her hand hovered over a now glowing green button. The redhead walked over a nodded when she was ready, Aubrey pressed the button the floor started to sink as the lift carried them down. 

“So who exactly is waiting for us?” Aubrey turned to face Chloe.

“Well, Marlene said there are Fireflies there that traveled all the way from another city. You must be important. So what’s your story? Some big-wig’s daughter or something?” She bubbled. Turning her smile on Bdca she tried to coax a little more from the smaller girl.

Beca folded in on herself a little not making eye contact and shrugs. “Something like that yeah..”

Aubrey and Chloe share a slightly worried look. What was the deal with this girl? Beca felt guilty lying to them but they could kill her if they knew, that or Marlene will.

“So how long is this going to take?” Beca asked once the lift stopped and they walked into a basement. 

“If all goes as planned we should get you there in a couple hours,” Aubrey said matter of factly. They walked over and lead the younger girl to a crawl space, even she had to duck into. “Listen Beca, once we get out there you need to follow our lead and stick close. And I’m bossing you around to be a bitch, anything can kill you out there and we need to keep you safe”

There was a note of sincerity in Aubrey’s voice that made Beca almost stop in surprise. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’ll follow you.” She said without the normal sarcasm in her voice. This made the other girls look at each other a slight smile hinting at both their lips. 

“Come on up here,” Chloe said once they came across a ladder. Climbing up it, she unlatched the small trap door and pushed it open slowly. She declared it was safe for them to come up, Beca and Aubrey climbed up behind her stepping out into the open. It had started to rain so the pavement was getting slick. Just as they were about to start walking a light caught their eye. “Hold up...I think that’s a patrol,” The redhead muttered holding up her hand to stop them. It passed and she dropped her hand walking forward. “I think we are fine just keep a lookout, Bree.”

“Will do. This rain isn’t going to help us any though…” Aubrey sighed looking around at their surroundings. They were on what used to be a city street but the years of wear and disrepair had made it collapse in on itself. 

“Shit,” Beca gasped and both girls looked back at her worried. The younger girl was looking around in subtle amazement a small smile gracing her lips. “I’m actually outside..Outside the walls.” 

Aubrey and Chloe shared a look of amusement as Beca continued to look around happily. They made there way up the road until they reached a broken down semi-truck that lead up to the main roads to the Capitol Building. 

“Come on this will keep us out of the rain!” Aubrey called as she jumped up into the truck. Chloe hopped up without an issue but when Beca tried to step up she immediately slipped. Aubrey was quick to grab her arm and steady her, for a moment her green eyes found themselves lost in the dark blue of Beca’s and she felt her cheeks tint. 

“T-Thanks.” Beca stutters with the blondes face so close to her’s. They hear Chloe clear her throat causing them to jump apart quickly, both looking embarrassed. However, they both missed the small light twinkling in Chloe’s eyes are she looked between them. It was strange to her, she obviously saw that little moment they had shared and she feels as though she should be jealous that her one and only was interacting with someone else like that other than her, but that wasn’t the case. She almost felt happy about seeing it. Weird. 

“Come on clutz, this way,” Aubrey said as she leads them up the container. She looked back to give Beca a snarky remark about watching her step as she herself stepped through the opening but suddenly he felt a sharp pain on the side of her head and her knees buckled. 

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Came a stern female voice. Looking up the blonde saw a soldier pointing a gun at Chloe and Beca as they both walked out of the container with their hands up. Another voice came from a second soldier behind the first, a man’s voice telling the women to move. They complied and kneeled next to Bree facing away from the soldiers, with their hands still raised. 

“You scan them, I’ll call them in,” The woman said as she went over to their patrol truck. 

“Alright,” The guy muttered walking over to them. He pulled out a scanner and pressed it to Chloe’s neck.

“Look the other way and we can make it worth your while.” She said with her brightest smile, she could see his tired eyes comb over her before the scanner beeped. 

“Shut up,” He grumbled as he moved to Aubrey, “I’m so tired of this shit.” 

“Agreed,” His partner said as she returned. The scanner beeped negative and he moved the Beca. Aubrey glanced over and saw that the smaller girl was looking anxious. 

“What’s the ETA?” The man asked as he pressed the scanner to Beca’s neck. The blonde watched all the color drain from Beca’s face and she prayed the younger girl wouldn’t do anything stupid. 

“A couple of minutes,” Se replied. The man nodded and they heard the scanner beep.

“Oh man. Oh man,” Both girls now fully turned to look at the brunette who suddenly, and quickly, reached into her pocket pulling out the familiar switchblade and jam it into the soldier's leg. “Sorry about this!” she yelled and stood up grabbing for the man’s gun. He was too quick though and it nailed her in the head with the butt of his gun. He trained it on her ready to shoot but Aubrey was on her feet and tackling the man to the ground. The other soldier took aim at the two wrestling on the ground but Chloe shot off two rounds making the woman drop to the ground. Aubrey was close behind the redhead in shooting her enemy. Once the man was limp she stood and turned on her heel glaring at the small girl on her ground. 

“What the hell Beca?!” Aubrey growled and she shrunk back looking impossibly smaller. 

“Oh god. I thought we..we were just going to hold them up or something.” She stuttered staring at the bodies across from her. 

“Oh, shit.” Floated Chloe’s voice from behind Aubrey. Looking up, Beca let her shoulders fall seeing Chloe looking nervous, or angry, as the scanner. “Bree, look…” She tossed the scanner and the blonde was immediately far angrier than she had before. A red flashing light on the screen screamed the word Beca was instructed to hide from the smugglers. 

“Jesus Christ...You’re infected?” She all but yelled at Beca. “Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?” A million and one questions were running through her head. 

“I’m not infected!” Beca said from her spot on the ground, both girls turned to look at her both having an unreadable expression. 

“No? So what? Is that lying then?” Chloe growled as Bree tossed the scanner next to Beca, who looked at it with frustration.

“I can explain!” Beca snapped knowing she really doesn’t have a right to be angry. 

“You better explain fast,” Aubrey said making sure Beca saw she had her gun drawn. 

“Look!” She said pulling the sleeves of both her plaid and her long sleeve. There was an obviously infected bite on her forearm. There was fungus bubbling her skin. But it looked different, almost stunted. 

“I don’t care how you go infected!” Aubrey snapped looking away from the younger girl. 

“No, it’s three weeks old,” Beca said desperately trying to convince them. She could see the cogs in Chloe’s head turning. 

“That’s impossible Beca, everyone turns in two days. Please just tell us the truth.” Her tone was softer like she was trying to give the girl the benefit of the doubt. 

“It’s three weeks.” Beca repeated, “I swear. Why would she set you up?” Beca asked trying to get them to understand. The two older woman shared a look, Chloe convinces, but Aubrey shook her head and started pacing. 

“I don’t buy it.” She said trying to wrack her brain around the situation. A light made her look up and there was a Humvee headed right for them. “Fuck. We need to go. Chloe, run! Now”

“Come on Bec! Move! Move!” Chloe said pulling the smaller girl up urging her to run. There was a drop off where the road fell off into a pit exposing part of the old T tracks, as well as some of the sewers. “Brace your knees when you jump by letting them bend or even rolling when you land okay?’ She yelled as they came across the drop-off. 

“Wha-” Beca didn’t get the question out before they jumped off the side and down fifteen feet. 

“Get back you pain in the ass!” Aubrey hisses grabbing Beca’s arm and pulling her back against the wall behind them under the ledge. The humvee screeched to the curb above them they could hear the voiced about as they found the bodies. 

“Fuck! We have two dead uniforms. I repeat we have two casualties in Sector Twelve. Requesting immediate backup.” Rang the voices into the air. 

“Follow me, quickly,” Aubrey said as she leads them through the fallen concrete. Luckily enough the rain and the dark kept them pretty hidden from the soldiers that were pulling up and running around in the streets above them. 

“Okay, Beca, when I give you the signal we run and keep up. We don’t want you and your corgi legs getting left behind.” Chloe said with a wink. Beca glared at her but nodded making Aubrey laugh quietly. “Okay go now. Run!”

They ran until they could find cover again behind a flipped car. Looking around the corner Beca noticed it was a clear run but there was a humvee coming. 

“Uh guys, I think we might have another chance for a sprint after this truck passes,” She mutters, the other two woman share a look with a small smile. Maybe Beca won’t drag them down like they had thought. The three of them all nodded once the coast was clear and ran to the next cover they could find. Beams of light flooded the passes from above as soldiers scanned the area for them. 

“Stay clear of those lights Beca, if they catch you, you will be dead. Understand?” Aubrey barked, Beca nodded simply deciding not to make a remark about the blonde’s tone. A light beam moved and they were able to move along more. Slowly but surely they made their way trying their hardest to avoid the lights. The building around them gave good cover move along but when they had almost reached safety they ran into a problem. They had to walk across an open street that had almost nothing to hide them in order to get to the shell of a building across from them. On top of that and the street was crawling with soldiers. 

“Okay so I’m thinking we book it to that cop car then to the building there,” Chloe says pointing out her route. Aubrey and Beca nod along to the plan. 

“Wait but where are we heading?” Beca asks confused about the direction. Aubrey subconsciously stood behind her to point Beca in the right direction, with her front pressed to the younger girls back the brunette’s face flushes and she tries to follow Aubrey’s finger. 

“Down behind that wall is an entrance to the old sewers, which is where we want to be.” The blonde instructed oblivious to Beca’s blush, or Chloe’s small smirk. 

“Okay...ready...set...go!” The redhead said once they were all ready. Quickly they made their way to the cop car, then the broken building. They were about to make a run for the sewer but Chloe had to grab both Beca and Bree’s arms when she saw the beam from a flashlight shine around the door. She held a finger to her lips and stood next to the door with a brick in hand. She nodded to Bree to pull out her knife, which the blonde did. A soldier walked through the door and as quietly as she could Chloe nailed the man in the head with the brick, and Aubrey was next to her in a flash making quick work of the man with her knife. 

“Now or never shorty! Let’s go!” Aubrey said and the three of them ran as fast as they could. A few bullets rang out soaring past them but they managed to jump into the manhole just in time. They heard the commotion breaking out above them but no one followed behind. Aubrey and Chloe were quick to turn on their flashlights and lead Beca to their destination. The first pipe led them under a grate where they heard soldiers above them.

“Sh sh sh, we have more soldiers don’t move,” Aubrey said holding up her hand. They listened with bated breath to the conversation above. 

“Sir, the targets are still at large.” They heard one woman say. 

“They are wasting too much time,” Another voice rang out. “Break off the pursuit and report back to Sector Eleven. Leave them to the clickers. They’ll take them out before we can.” And on that note, they heard the doors of the humvees shut and the trucks peel out. The women all let out a relieved breath. 

“Okay! Let ’s go! It’s going to get harder before it gets easier!” Chloe said happily as she bounced toward the exit of the tunnel. Beca looked at Aubrey as if to say ‘she is crazy’ and Aubrey only laughs and shrugs following her girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know this chapter was high class shitty and I’m so sorry. I just really wanted to post something to get the ball rolling again and if you made it to this note with out giving up, thank you. I’m going to try and start writing more as well as probably edit this chapter better and repost it. I love y’all thank you!


	5. You Can't Deny That View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late reply...This is 9,238 words so i hope that makes up for it.

It took them a few minutes to find their way out of the sewers, but soon enough they were pushing open a gate a breathing fresh air again. Beca sat down and Chloe knelt down next to her putting her hand on her shoulder. Aubrey feels like she should be jealous of this softness the redhead is showing but she doesn’t mind it, maybe it’s just because her girlfriend is nice to everyone and she’s used to it. 

“Look...What was the plan? Let’s say that we deliver you to the fireflies, then what?” Chloe asked softly and Beca shook her head. 

“Marlene, she said that they have their own little quarantine zone. With doctors there; still trying to find a cure,” the small brunette tried to explain. Aubrey scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, we’ve heard that before, huh Chloe?” Rolling her shoulders Aubrey paced back and forth trying to rid her body of the tension building. They really should just turn around, she knows Chloe too well though. Not a chance in hell. 

“And that…” Beca huffed running a hand through her hair and looked at Chloe. “Whatever happened to me is the key to finding a vaccine,” 

“Oh Jesus,” Aubrey snorted throwing her hands up and walking away. 

“It’s what she said!” the smaller girl tried defending her friend and the blonde turned on her heel to glare. 

“Oh I’m sure she did,” She snapped and Beca stood walking over and getting face to face with Aubrey. 

“Hey, fuck you man. I didn’t ask for this,” She snapped back. 

“Neither did I. Chloe, what the hell are we doing here,” She asked looking at her girlfriend pleadingly. 

“What if it’s true Bree?” pulling her hair back she looked at the blonde with absolute determination and Aubrey’s face fell and she backed up. 

“I--can’t believe…” 

“What if? I mean we’ve come this far why not just finish it? It’ll be totes easy we just have to make it to point B!” Chloe said biting her lip and looking out into the distance. 

“Do I need to remind you what is out there?” Aubrey growled pointing in the direction of their path. Chloe just sighed and looked back at Beca who was still shooting daggers. 

“I get it,” She said after what felt like an eternity of silence. Without another word she started walking across the broken pavement continuing their journey. Looking back green eyes locked with dark stormy blue and Beca just glared at her as she passed by. Aubrey all but screamed to herself before taking a deep breath and following them. 

“This way! If we keep going we can make it to the capitol building by sunrise,” The redheads voice rang out a few paces ahead as the other two women followed her. They passed a few signs for Logan Airport as well as the old highway I90. It was nice to be able to walk without the immediate fear of soldiers being around any corner. Now they just have other nightmares to deal with. 

Looking around it’s hard to forget the hell that occured around them. The destroyed streets, and decrepit buildings, if you look up there was an entire skyscraper leaning dangerously against another. Regardless of it being summer, the rain and slight breeze was making it difficult to stay warm. Taking a deep breath Beca let out a small shiver and rubbed her arms vigorously to try and make some heat. 

“Holy moly is this what these buildings look like up close? They are so damn tall,” She was almost too preoccupied to hear the strangled, sloppy moan coming from off in the distance. Almost. “Ah, what the hell was that?” She asked, The shake in her voice a mixture of the chill in the air and slight fear. 

“Babe, you hear that?” Aubrey called up sounding slightly smug that she was right about what waits ahead for them. 

“Yeah. Sounded pretty far away though. Wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you,” She said turning to walk backwards flashing a small wink the blondes way. Blushing, she looked down at the ground as she walks, a small smile playing at her lips. 

Beca looked between them curiously. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, maybe she was just hungry. She couldn’t shake the thought that she actually enjoyed watching the other two women banter, she only wished that they would include her. Rolling her eyes and huffing Beca kept walking chastising herself for that idea. They were in a relationship dude, she can’t think like that. Besides, who does she even have a crush on? Which one is pulling at her heart like this? They only met a few hours ago but when she saw one of their faces the other’s always accompanied it. This is ridiculous, she just met them! She is just lacking contact with other humans. That’s it! She just needs more contact other than Marlene. 

Soon enough they found themselves coming up on a ledge overlooking a drop off that was easily fifty feet deep. Below them were abandoned T train cars. “That’s quite a drop,” Beca whistled as she came up behind them. 

“There’s the capital building,” Aubrey pointed and low and behold it was in the distance.  
“Looks like we just need to get around this mess,” Chloe laughed lightly waving wildly at the skyscraper in front of them. It looked five minutes, and a feather away from falling over. 

“So this is the downtown area?” Beca asked curiously and Aubrey nodded solemnly.

“It was. Now it’s a wasteland,” Aubrey shared a sad look with Chloe who flashed a small reassuring smile in return. Huffing the blonde turned on her heel and started walking toward the huge building. The wall of the first floor was torn away so it was easy to hop in, she was quick to turn on her flashlight and locate an open door. “Chloe!” She called back and before she could blink there was a flash of red by her side tying her hair back. 

“Ready if you are cutie,” she said with a wink. Beca was following close behind looking slightly worried. 

“You okay there, gremlin?” Aubrey asked when she looked back with a teasing grin. Beca rolled her eyes but smirked back in return. 

“You know I’d feel a lot better if I had a gun…” She hummed looking around the building as they walk in. Chloe was the one to laugh this time. 

“Sorry there Bec, I like you but there is no way you are getting a gun,” She chuckled, the smaller  
woman was about to argue her point when she froze. Laying in front of a doorway was a body, it was completely ravished. 

“He’s been ripped apart,” Chloe sighed kneeling down to get a closer look. “The body looks fresh,” 

“Is that bad?” Beca asked, she then mentally slapped herself because of course a body torn to pieces on the floor is bad. That’s a stupid question. 

“Yeah, it might be. Let’s not stick around to find out,” Standing up Chloe makes her way through the door behind the body and up the stairwell. There were walls and floors missing everywhere, the water from the rain was gathering in small pools, and falling in steady streams.The redhead didn’t pause as she made her way up the stairs, but she did mentally stop to appreciate how beautiful the scenery was. As long as you ignore the fact that the whole building could collapse on them at any minute. Her heart fell when she turned the corner on the next landing. 

“God damnit, a clicker,” Aubrey growled when she came up next to her girlfriend. It was true, it looks as though it had died recently and with the dark space had started to grow more fungus on the walls and the door it was leaning on. Thankfully it wasn’t old enough to start giving off spores. 

“Geez, what’s wrong with it’s face?” Beca asked walking to Aubrey’s other side as she looked at the infected. It was nothing like she’d ever seen before. Sure she had studied the stages of infection, sort of, she skimmed the pages while she was in school. But she had never seen what they really look like up close. The head of what used to be a human was completely cracked open and the fungus had taken over. The body was covered in sores and sprouts everywhere. It made her incredibly uneasy. 

“That’s what years of infection will do to you,” Chloe answered and Aubrey went over to cover her hands and pull it away from the door. 

“So, what? Are they blind?” The brunette took a step closer to get a better look but she was a little too afraid it would suddenly spring back to life. 

“Jesus did you even pay attention in school? I heard they teach about the infection,” Aubrey grunted as the pulled the body away. 

“Ignore her, I wasn’t good at paying attention in class either,” Chloe winked, Beca felt her cheeks light up at this. “But sort of. They can see using sound,”

“Chloe we went to school for a week when we were twelve because Tommy got us stuck in a zone…” Aubrey piped up turning to look a them with an eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips. 

“Anyway, so they see like bats?” Beca said following Chloe’s instruction with a smirk. The blonde huffs and turns to the door jiggling the handle only to find it’s stuck. 

“Like bats. If you hear them clicking, you’ve got to hide. That’s how they find you,” She explains as she walks over just as Aubrey hip checks the door open. The three of them make their way through the door and the building lets out a loud groan and all of them crouch just incase. 

“The whole building feels like it’s about to fall apart. Are you guys okay?” Aubrey muttered. She looked back to make sure neither of the women behind her were hurt. Chloe flashed her bright smile which was returned, looking over at Beca though she was surprised to see a soft smile and nod come from the younger girl. What was even more surprising was the eruption of butterflies in her stomach, a feeling reserved only for Chloe. Guilt shot through her heart and she bit her lip looking away quickly. 

That wasn’t normal. In fact it was bad, very very bad. How dare her body react to that like to someone that isn’t the love of her life? Aubrey walked over to an abandoned desk and looked through the drawers trying to keep herself busy. She was lucky enough to find broken scissors and a small bottle of aspirin. It wasn’t much but more than they have. She tried to hide what was racing through her mind but Chloe knew her better than that. 

“What just happened to you…? You looked mortified for a second,” She asked softly. Beca knew this wasn’t a conversation for her and looked around the room trying to find an exit. 

“I don’t know if I want to talk about it love. Maybe later when we have a little more...privacy?” She muttered back. Guilt was gripping her heart and she didn’t know how to deal with it. Chloe is all she has in this world and she is not going to let that cute little hobbit fuck it up for her. Annoying. Not cute, she is annoying. 

“Okay baby, you know you can talk to me about anything right? Hell maybe even I have something to talk about. When you’re ready you can come to me,” Chloe chirped as she walked over to Beca who was crouched under a fallen bookcase. She caught Beca’s small smile to Aubrey earlier, and the way her girlfriend reacted tipped her off that maybe she wasn’t the only one harboring a small crush on the younger girl. She knew deep down maybe that should make her angry, or guilty but it still didn’t. It actually made her happy, to the point where she had to remind herself they were only transporting Beca. A goodbye was to come soon. 

“Everything is cool, everything is totally cool,” They both heard the before mentioned girl mutter to herself as the building shakes again making an office chair roll across the slanted floor. They shared a slightly amused look before moving in farther. There were cubicles filling this room and not much to collect so the older women didn’t waste any time moving to the door on the other side. 

“It’s jammed,” Chloe grunted as she hit her shoulder into it a few times. Aubrey moved over and they synced their movements hitting the door with their shoulders until it swung open.

“Chloe!” Before she knew what was happening the redhead was knocked on her back a ravenous clicker on top of her snapping and trying to bite her. She bared her arm against its chest and tried to push it off of her, focusing mostly on keeping it’s mouth away. Aubrey was quick to kick it off of her and shoot it twice in the head not moving until it stopped twitching. 

“Thanks baby, that was...close,” Chloe said quietly walking over to peck her girlfriend’s lips. 

“Are you okay?” The younger woman asked when they pulled away from each other. She looked like she was trying desperately to hide how terrified she was.

“It was nothin’ we haven’t handled before,” Chloe sighed, she then checked herself over to make sure they’re were no bites on her. Breathing thankfully when she found none she looked around at the hall of offices. “Okay we can break and look in these rooms for supplies or we can continue,” 

“Dude whatever you want..”

“Babe that’s up to you…” both woman piped up making the redhead smile. 

“Let’s keep going, we have enough to get us to the capitol,” she hummed shrugging her bag back onto her shoulders and nodding down the hallway. They checked each room anyway to find a way off this floor so if they were able to pick up a few things like old rags or maybe left over alcohol for some better first aid supplies they definitely grabbed it.

“Okay, let's get out of here,” Aubrey said when they came to the end of the hall, there was a ledge where the stairs had fallen. There was another body of a soldier hanging, but the three tried to ignore it. 

“Boost me?” Chloe asked and the blonde nodded lacing her fingers together. Her girlfriend took a jogging start and stepped in her hands, pushing her up Aubrey balanced her until she was up. 

“Okay, it’s safe. Come on Bec,” she smiled and the smaller woman looked hesitant but she shook it off walking over to Aubrey.

“I won’t let you fall shorty,” she said softly and Beca’s face tinted slightly. Biting her lip she stepped into the older woman’s hands and let herself be boosted. Grabbing Chloe’s arm she climbed up the wall and looked around. 

“Alright hot stuff come on, you’re turn,” Chloe smiled as she kneeled down and hoisted Aubrey. They only had a second to take in their surroundings before they heard a loud clicking coming from the next room over. 

“Clickers?” Beca said quietly now that she recognized the noise. The three of them shared momentary looks of terror before moving quickly to cover. They duck under a few desks, Beca freezes completely when the creature comes over her clicking and screeching looking for it’s pray. It pulls away and moves farther into the room. Looking around the corner Beca noticed a way out of the room but it would require climbing up on a few desks to get out. 

She caught the other women’s attention and pointed to the exit. They nodded and looked around for something that Beca couldn’t see. Suddenly Aubrey held up a brick with a triumphant smile. Sharing a nod Chloe grabbed Beca’s arm and dragged her in the opposite direction of Aubrey. The brunette couldn’t help the fear that went through her chest as they seperated from the older woman. but they seemed to know what they were doing. She watched as Aubrey looked over her shoulder and waited a moment before hurling the brick out the door they came in. 

Beca was confused until she heard the brick break on the far side of the other room. Suddenly the clicker let out a disgusting screech and ran out the door trying to find the offending sound. Aubrey was quick to run over to them, and the three of them jumped on the desk pulling themselves up they were able to wiggle through a crack at the top of the wall. They dropped down on the floor of an open stairwell. 

“Okay that’s over with, everyone okay?” Chloe panted looking around to check on everyone.

“Other than shitting my pants? I’m fine,” Beca quipped as they looked around. Aubrey just nodded and they moved over to the stairs. The first flight was blocked but they were able to jump to the next. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” there was a filing cabinet in the way of them getting down any further and Aubrey was lacking a severe amount of patience at this point. Chloe just laughed and brushed passed her lightly kissing her cheek on the way. 

“Just gimme a sec’,” She said as she gripped the sides. She really hoped there was no infected around because this was going to be loud. She took a deep breath and slowly started to pull back on the heavy cabinet. The noise that came from it was horrendous and all of them tensed hoping nothing could get to them. 

“That was so loud, oh my god,” Aubrey hissed looking around to make sure they were absolutely safe. 

“Yeah...But we are fine, we are totes fine. Let’s go,” Chloe said after a second of them all listening. They jump down and Beca deflates when they notice that the rest of the stairs are blocked. 

“They’re blocked, do you think we should head back up?” She groaned not wanting to have to pass the infected again. Neither her, nor Aubrey notice Chloe looking out the broken window next to them. 

“This is crazy,” they heard her mutter. They both whipped over to see the redhead hopping out the window onto an old cleaning platform. 

“Chloe Samantha Beal, get your ass back in here now!” Aubrey yelled but her girlfriend had already turned the corner and was making her way across the side of the building. The blonde made an indignant noise before huffing and climbing out the window. 

“Just don’t look down!” Chloe called from down the platform. 

“Wha- Are you serious?” Beca called. Rolling her eyes when she gets no reply she scrambled out the window. The metal was slick and the rain was still coming down hard. “You’re insane,” She yelled over the ran to Chloe who just waved her off and hopped to the next platform. 

“I swear to god Chlo, we better make it home alive.” Aubrey growled. Suddenly the rig creaked and they all gasped grabbing onto the thing closest to them. For Chloe it was the rail in front of her, same for Aubrey, but Beca was forced to grab Aubrey’s arm for dear life. Chloe was able to jump on to the ledge on the side of the building, she looked back to check on the other two and smiled when she saw a very annoyed Bree with pink cheeks and a terrified looking Beca.

“Okay, come on Bec it’s safe.” She said softly and when the smaller woman was sure it was safe she quickly let go of the blonde and practically through herself into Chloe’s arms. “Whoa! I got you there short stack,” She giggled. 

“Thank you,” She muttered into the faux hug before pulling away and flushing her back to the wall. 

“Come on baby, I got you,” Chloe chirped turning to Aubrey who gratefully took her hand and stood up on the ledge. 

“Please tell me we can get into the building from here?” She shivered the rain getting to her a little. The other woman laughed and nodded pointing around the corner that Beca was currently trying to turn. “There’s a broken wimdow right over there. We might need to carry her to it though,”

“Listen! I am small, I have always been close to the ground. We are currently very exposed and like five stories up. This is a reasonable fear to have,” she growled trying to urge herself to move. Smirking Aubrey walked over and gently pushed Beca around the corner and then before the younger girl could yell Chloe was passing her and hopping in through the window with Aubrey following close behind her. 

“I wouldn’t have let you die,” Aubrey shrugged with Beca glaring at her. They walked further into the building and there was a pretty big drop off, the rest of the floor must have fallen through. Below them they could hear a familiar gurgling and shrieking. 

“Infected.” Beca groaned. 

“I’ve got it, just keep an eye on her,” Aubrey said quietly as she walked over to the ledge. Something shiny caught her eye and she looked just in time to see a decent looking revolver. She grabbed it and checked to see if it had ammo. “Three bullets, more than I had before,” 

“Hey, be safe please,” Chloe said grabbing her hand and pulling her back. She gently pressed her lips to Aubrey who reciprocated back softly. Beca looked equally as worried when they pulled back and Aubrey saw her out of the corner of her eye. She looked like she wanted to say something but she just shook her head. 

“Don’t get eaten or whatever Captain,” She laughed trying to play her worry off. Aubrey huffed and rolled her eyes at her, but then flashed a small confident smile. 

“I’ll be fine you two, don’t worry about me,” She said as she walked over to the ledge and very quietly dropped down. Placing one foot in front of the other she inched forward slowly in order to peer around the corner. Directly in front of her there was one runner twitching and groaning. But thankfully he was standing still and not hunting. They didn’t know she was there. She tried to listen for how many others were down there with her. She could definitely make out two clickers there with her. As well as at least three other runners. Shit. 

She checked to make sure it was safe before inching forward to the runner in front of her. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arm around it’s throat and choking it until she was sure it was dead. Looking over her shoulder she saw the first clicker. It was on the far side of the room oblivious to her being there. She thought she was in the clear to sneak over and take it out, but she didn’t notice a runner turn the corner she had just come from. She barely had enough time to run when it noticed her and let out a terrifying shriek and started to chase her. That would be fine if that was the only infected in the area, however there were five others who were now very much aware of her being there. 

“Oh fuck me,” She whined as both clickers screamed and ran after her too along with three runners. She made good time and found high ground on a desk. Taking a breath she pulled out her pistol and shot the first two runners in the head dropping them. Her luck ran out with the third though. It just barely dodged her bullet and charged her. She then shot it three more times in the torso before it fell and stopped twitching. New problem. She’s out of ammo on her pistol, and the clickers are swarming her. She needed to move and now. Quickly she jumped down from them and ran creating some distance between her and the monsters. She noticed an office across the hall with two doors. Maybe she can get them to chase her into it and then turn when she gets through the second door and shoot them with the revolver. 

“Worth a shot,” She huffed. Booking it she ran as fast as she could into the office. Both infected followed her and she was quick to turn on a dime and pull the revolver on the first. If it were a runner a shot to the head would have taken it out. But because clickers have the fungus that sprouted out of their skull it is almost impenetrable. The first shot barely made a dent. The second took a chunk of fungus. The third finally embedded itself into the creatures head making it fall to its knees. She was out of ammo and out of time. The second clicker was on her in a split second knocking her on her ass and snapping its jaws at her. She screamed and tried to fight it off but it was far stronger than her. Suddenly memories of Chloe filled her mind, them growing up as well as their love. Beca was there too, her smirk and snark ever present. She found a surprising amount of strength from deep inside of her and with a quick thrust up she bought herself enough time to grab her pocket knife, flip it open, and plunge the blade deep into the infected’s neck. Blood poured out and it made a horrible noise, but after a moment the body stopped moving and with an exhausted huff she pushed it off her and laid on the floor catching her breath. 

“Alright,” She panted. “Come on down,” She called. Two thuds followed the other woman jumping down to join Aubrey. 

“Holy shit darling are you okay?” Chloe asked running over to her girlfriend who was laying on the ground her entire right arm covered in blood. 

“Yeah, I’m fine the blood isn’t mine,” She groaned sitting up. 

“Wow Bree, I am impressed,” Beca said looking around. Something pinged in both older women’s hearts when Beca said Bree. She was just in awe and said it so quietly. 

“Thanks,” Aubrey said quietly her cheeks on fire, they searched for a way out and Chloe couldn’t help but smirk to herself at her girlfriend’s reaction. While she was looting some of the infected’s bodies for any supplies they might have she could see the blonde trying to talk herself out of the blush on her cheeks. That little ball of snark really had made a lasting impression on both of them.

“Over here!” She called she had found a door. The ground was slanted and the door was blocked by a thick metal machine. It would be hard to pass through while keeping it open. She got an idea and laughed to herself. She huffed and pulled the machine back and it was far heavier than she thought. “Hey hey hey, guys, go and find something to hold this open with!” She called straining to hold it, both woman ran over and into the room. She listened with a small smile as they worked to relieve her. With in a minute, and her arms getting ready to give out, they both worked to push an old printer into the doorway affectively jamming it. 

“Come on sweetheart,” Aubrey said holding her arms out to help Chloe down as she hopped down from the printer. Lacing their fingers the redhead smiled softly and lead them out. It was all climbing down from there. The floors had collapsed allowing them to jump down the rest of the floors until they reached the basement. The twisted and broken cement path lead them down into the T stations. 

“Shit,” They heard Beca mutter, breaking the comfortable silence they had been traveling in. They followed her line of sight to see a mangled firefly in a puddle of blood. 

“These guys aren’t doing well in or out of the city,” Chloe muttered as she leaned down to check for a pulse. She knew there wouldn’t be one but she always checks. Just for piece of mind. Next to him was a bottle of alcohol with a rag coming out of it. She very gently tucked it into her bag and stood back up. “But he left us a very nice gift in the form of a molotov,”

“I think this means we are getting close.” Beca hummed, she didn’t sound particularly excited but the other two just chalked it up to her being tired. They were able to find a hole where the ceiling collapsed and crawl under it to the next room. What they found was terrifying. 

“Holy shi-” Chloe gently covered Beca’s mouth before she could make anymore noise. They were in a subway terminal, and it was crawling with infected. Mostly clickers which was objectively worse. If they were very careful they could make it through without triggering any of them. But that was playing a very risky game. They definitely couldn’t fight all of them off though, so they didn’t really have much of a choice. Chloe grabbed both of their hands and crouched making them do the same. They crawled very quietly along the floor, clickers getting so close to them that they almost get stepped on. 

It was nearly impossible to find a way out. There was a lot of shops and several dead ends but nowhere for them to go. After half an hour of going in dangerous and painstakingly slow circles Beca stops walking and suddenly jerks the other two back with her. Pointing she drew their attention to a locked station gate, sitting on the top of it was a ladder. The three women almost cried with relief. The only drawback was there was a clicker almost standing guard in front of it.

Before they could devise a plan Beca was already pulling away from them and sneaking over to it. She slowly pulled out her switchblade and flipped it open. Taking a deep breath to gather her courage she took one more step forward, standing up she quickly plunged the blade into the side of it’s head. It let out half a shriek before falling down. The sound allerted several of the the other infected that there was an intruder and the other two woman sprung into action running over to Beca. Chloe laced her fingers together and vaulted Beca up so she could pull the ladder down while Aubrey stood watch with the gun ready. The three of them scrambled up and over the ladder and out into the subway tunnel. Chloe made sure to kick over the ladder before jumping down. 

“Holy shit we actually made it,” Beca gasped once they were out in the open again. The tunnel had collapsed and made it easy for them to climb up onto the city streets. 

“Yeah thank god. I swear to god Beca if you pull another stunt like that I will personally shoot you,” Aubrey snapped and Beca just rolled her eyes. The rain had finally stopped and the sun was rising. 

“You guys are pretty good at that,” She replied after a few minutes of silence. 

“It’s called luck. And it is going to run out,” The blonde growled. “Where we goin’ Chlo?” 

The redhead scanned the area before locking in on the dome of the capitol building and points down an alley. “There. This way,” She says making her way down it, almost skipping. Aubrey just smiles and follows her. Their path was blocked by a semi that was pulled across it though. They split up to find something to push against it to jump over, Chloe saw a perfect cart that she could push and ran into a building. She did not notice the three infected in there however. With a small scream she quickly grabbed her gun and shot one to her right. He fell with a dull thud and she ran out quickly not wanting to be pinned in there with them. Once she was in the open she turned around and let off another shot hitting another in the chest. That didn’t kill it though and it came at her too fast. Without a second thought she threw a fist and nailed the infected in the face with a solid punch. She threw four more hits before she could reach back and grab the pipe she picked up at the dock and swing it like a baseball bat effectively shattering the head. She heard Aubrey’s gun go off and the third runner was killed. 

“What the hell Chloe?” Aubrey shouted exacerbated.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t see them!” She defended. Walking back into the building she grabbed the cart and pushed it until it was flush with the truck. “After you my love,” She offered to Aubrey. 

“You’d be a lot more charming if you didn’t almost kill us.” The blonde laughed as she kissed her girlfriend’s cheek and climbed up on the truck. 

“Yeah but I’m borderline charming and that’s all that matters. Come on Bec!” She giggled and she helped the girl climb up, then followed close behind. They met up with Aubrey who was starting to pull the chain to a garage door. 

“Wait, stop. Shh,” Chloe said and the blonde froze. 

“What? I don’t hear anything?” But as soon as she said it she could hear the shrieks of infected coming from the other side of the truck. 

“Double time let’s go!” Chloe said as she grabbed on to the chain helping open the door. Once it was open enough her and Beca ducked under supporting it. Aubrey could see the infected start to climb over the truck but the other two women were still trying to get the door to stay. “Shit okay good enough come on Bree!” the blonde did not waste time ducking under the door. Just as she thought she was clear she felt a runner grab her. She dove under the door and Chloe and Beca let go quickly slamming it shut. 

“Uh, you’ve got something on your foot,” Beca said pointing at Aubrey’s leg which had a severed arm gripping her ankle. 

“Ew!” She squealed and kicked her leg until the arm came off. They were in a small garage and the all sat down against the wall trying to catch their breath for a moment. 

“So, Marlene really thinks you’re immune?” Aubrey asks looking at her. 

“That’s what she believes, yeah..” Beca said gratefully taking some water that Chloe offers her. 

“Well how were you bitten? I mean you must have been somewhere you shouldn’t have been to run into infected in the zone?” 

“Yeah. I’d sneak out when I could,” Beca tried to explain. 

“Sneak out?” Chloe asked, clearly as interested as Aubrey. 

“Mhm, you know, like explore the city? I was in the mall when I ran into the infected,” They watched as the younger girl averted eye contact and started tracing the area that was holding the infection. 

“That place is completely off limits. How the hell did you even get in there?” The blonde asked handing both Chloe and Beca a protein bar. 

“I - had my ways. Anyways, one of those - what do you call those guys, runners bit me. And that was that,” She muttered, it was clear there was much more to this story the but brunette was nowhere near willing to share. 

“I see...Where you with Marlene when you were bitten?” Chloe asked softly tilting her head slightly with curiosity. 

“N-no. No, I went to her afterwards for help,” the smaller girl stuttered and the two older women shared a knowing look that that definitely wasn’t the truth. At least not the whole truth. 

“Knowing Marlene I’m surprised she didn’t shoot you on site,” Aubrey snorted lightly wanting to make the younger girl comfortable again. 

“She almost did,” Beca laughed before claming up again. “I hope she’s alright.” 

“Hey. Look at me,” Chloe said gently as ocean blue met midnight and they locked eyes. “I told you. She is going to be okay. And soon enough you’ll be with her again,” 

Beca gave her a soft smile in return but all three of them felt the same pit at the bottom of their stomachs. The infected were still pounding at the garage door and they needed to move soon. Beca stood first and stretched her back before holding her hands out to help them up. 

“I think this door will probably get us out,” She pointed to the door opposite them once everyone was standing. 

“Well then, let’s go!” Chloe said softly and she walked over to the door pushing it open. It was just a small storage room, but luckily it looked like it was conjoined with the next building. Pushing on it turned out that the neighboring building was an older revolutionary war museum. Judging by their surroundings they decided that they were in the basement. The floor above them had partially given way making a ramp and they were able to walk up which was exactly where Aubrey was headed. She was at the base of the ramp when she heard a loud crash behind her. 

“Ow, shit. Sorry, sorry that was me!” She turned just in time to see an antique vase broken on the floor, and Beca standing there with a small cut on her hand. 

“Chloe,” Aubrey growled and the redhead held a hand up as if to say everything was under control. 

“Come on, stay close to me,” She said quietly passing a bandage to the smaller girl who smiled sheepishly and started wrapping her hand. 

“What was this place?” Beca asked once they climbed to the first floor. 

“It used to be a museum, it like, put up exhibits on certain topics. I think this one focused on the Revolutionary War. When Bree and I were kids our parents only ever took us to the science museum because it was kid friendly. But needless to say these place aren’t of much use in the world we live in,” Chloe explained looking around at some of the artifacts and reading some of the documents. They passed through another door only to find that their path was blocked by debris that had fallen. 

“Shit. We might have to double back,” Aubrey said turning around thinking. Chloe shook her head though and picked up a decent sized plank wedging it under one of the bigger beams that were blocking the door. 

“Alright..Three, two, one! Go, go,go!” She grunted as she pushed down on the plank giving her some leverage on the fallen beams lifting them just enough. But they were heavy and the wood she was using was currently starting to break. Aubrey and Beca scrambled to climb under and she just barely saw Beca’s shoe disappear before the plank snapped the the debris fell nearly crushing the redhead. 

“Chloe?!” Aubrey’s worried voice came from the other side. 

“I’m okay! I’m alive. I think that I might have opened a new path. I’ll make my way around to you,” She called. Several very loud clicking sounds came from the other side of the fallen beams and Chloe felt the panic rise in her throat. “Bree?” 

“Look, they’re here!” She heard Beca yelp. 

“Run. Run! Chlo please catch up!” Aubrey called and before she could say anything she heard them running away and fast. 

“Shit,” She muttered. Turning over she was right to see that another path had been opened and she quietly walked to it. She had to clap a hand over her mouth as a clicker turned the corner from one of the exhibits and pass right in front of her. She didn’t have a knife on her and nor did she have anything to make a quick shiv. Looking around she internally cheered when she found a very large nail protruding from some wood behind her. Grabbing it she pulled until it came loose, she scoped the area to see what she was up against. There was the one clicker that passed her. Another was banging against the door at the end of the hall, and it was possible she heard one in the large room across from her. 

First thing first, deal with the one in front of you. She thought to herself, Aubrey’s voice circling her head trying to keep her focused on the task at hand. She crept forward making sure her footsteps were light. Swiftly she jumped forward and plunged the nail into the side of the clicker’s neck. It made a gurgling noise before falling softly to the ground. She went to retrieve her nail but after several attempts at pulling it she found it was stuck. 

“Well shit,” She whispered. Reaching back she grabbed her trust worthy pipe brandishing it like a bat. Walking forward she tried to stay as close to furniture as she could so the floor didn’t creak. She slowly made her way to the end of the hall, the third clicker was to her right in the next room and the second was two yards in front of her. She sighed not wanting to pick a fight with them. Her eyes widened as she got an idea. Reaching down she grabbed a pile of dirt and rocks. She then threw it as hard as she could to her right. Both infected let out a scream and ran to find the source of the noise. 

“Yes!” She hissed pumping her fist in the air. She squeaked when she realized she was definitely not in a safe place to celebrate and she ran to the door ripping it open and scooting inside. Slamming it behind her she moved an old bookcase in front and leaned against it catching her breath. 

“Fuck off!” The redhead jumped when she heard Beca’s voice ring out from up stairs. That was followed by a door slamming and the scream of a runner echoing through the halls. Chloe ran up the stairs onto the next landing. She could see the path in which her girlfriend and Beca used to run down the hall and into the room they were currently locked in. The infected man was screaming and throwing his body at the door. Chloe suddenly felt an urge of over protection as she thought of her girlfriend behind that door, Beca behind that door. She pulled her gun and cleared her throat. 

“Yeah, You’re going to want to get away from there buddy,” She said and the man turned on her snarling and angry. He was newly turned, that means he was going to be easy to take down. He started running to her and all she had to do was raise her gun and pull the trigger. He nearly ran into the bullet. His head jerked back and Chloe was able to pass over him and open the door into absolute hell. 

“Bec! Get back,” She heard Aubrey say as the blonde pushed a runner back just long enough to grab a plank of wood and start hitting the infected. She hit it one last time and both the plank and its head broke completely. 

“Bree!” Chloe called when she came into the room. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Aubrey gasped relieved to see her girlfriend was also okay.

“Guys! Get in here!” Beca’s voice rang out in the next room. They shared a look of panic before taking off. 

“Shit, Bec,” Chloe grunted as they ran in to see Beca holding off an infected clearly struggling but holding her own. 

“Fuck,” Pulling out her gun Aubrey got close enough to shoot and fired killing the infected. Beca leaning against an artifact case trying to catch her breath. She didn’t have long though, they were being swarmed but runners, there were easily five more to replace the one who had attacked the younger woman. 

“Chloe! Now might be a good time for that molotov!” Aubrey called checking her ammo only to see she was dangerously low. The three of them retreated to the corner of the room where Chloe was digging in her bag. 

“Dude what are you looking for? It was a huge bottle of alcohol,” Beca asked incredulously. When the redhead was still searching. 

“Funny thing about molotovs smart ass! You need to be able to light them,” Chloe snapped feeling the pressure for them being cornered. 

“Shit I thought you had a lighter, here,” Beca grunted reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small metal zippo. Chloe didn’t waste a second lighting and throwing the bottle. It hit a clicker directly, and considering none of them had noticed it, they still had luck on their side. The clicker screamed and ran into two other infected immediately lighting them on fire as well. Aubrey used her last two bullets making one of the infected fall and injuring another. 

“Together?” She asked looking at her girlfriend who nodded. “Hobbit, back us up,” 

“Aye aye Captain.” Beca smirked as the other two women lunged forward. Aubrey took on the one she had shot and hit it three times with her fists before it stumbled back and fell. When it was done she grabbed her pocket knife and threw it over to Chloe who caught it with ease. Beca’s blade was drawn and she was watching the other entrances into the room to make sure they didn’t get ambushed. Aubrey brought her foot high before slamming it down on the infected’s face successfully crushing it’s head, Chloe flipped open Aubrey’s blade and stabbed the runner in her torso before she plunged it into it’s temple. With a grunt she pushed it down and closed the knife handing it to Aubrey. 

“That was...fun,” Chloe gasped trying to catch her breath. Aubrey was over by an open window with her hands on her knees looking exhausted. “Baby? You holding up okay?”

“Just a bit winded. Let’s see if any of them have ammo on them, then I can see the capitol building out this window,” She huffed standing back up straight. She looked worse for the wear and Chloe couldn’t help but worry. They went over and checked the the bodies happy to find some ammo they could use as well as some other supplies. Walking back over to the window the redhead pulled both of the girls into a strong group hug making the other two grunt. Aubrey was used to these random hugs after something dangerous, but having Beca included was strange. She couldn’t find a reason to complain though. 

“I love you Bree,” She said gently. Then she turned to Beca. “How about you Bec? You okay?” 

“Define okay?” Beca said her cheeks pink from either the previous attack, or the very close contact. 

“Well, are you still breathing?” Chloe asked with a small smile. 

“Do small, panicked breaths count?” She asked following the other women out the window onto a fire escape. This made both Aubrey and Chloe chuckle. 

“Yeah cutie, they count,” Chloe sighed happily as they climbed up to the roof. 

“Then, yeah. I’m totally okay,” She replied. They made their way to the top and looked across the skyline. The sunrise was barely coming over the buildings, it was beautiful. 

“Alright, we need to find a way across,” Chloe said looking around. Aubrey spotted a thick piece of plywood and walked over picking it up and laying it across the gap between their roof and the next. 

“Watch your step as you’re going across.It’s going to be a litt-” Aubrey tried to explain but Beca just hopped up on the board completely fearless with a small huff. 

“Bitch,” Aubrey muttered and Chloe just laughed. Grabbing her waist the blonde pulled the other woman into her and kissed her deeply. Pulling away Chloe looked at her with stars in her eyes and a shy smile. 

“What was that for?” She asked softly not wanting to break this moment.

“I was just really worried about you. I at least had Beca, you were by yourself. I’m glad you’re safe,” The sunrise was making Aubrey’s normally forest green eyes light up to look like beautiful emeralds. Chloe felt at home in this woman’s arms and she was genuinely so in love with her. They both looked over to see Beca with her back turned to them, obviously trying to give them some privacy. 

“I love you so much Bree. I’m glad you’re safe too, and I am so proud of you for keeping Beca alive,” She giggled slightly and Aubrey chuckled lightly pushing her hair from her eyes. 

“I love you too sweetheart, so so much. And eh, she’s a pain in my ass but...I don’t know. She seems worth keeping around,” The blonde shrugged and Chloe laughed pecking her lips once before pulling away and helping her up onto the plank and making her way up as well. “So? Is that everything you hoped for?” 

“Jury’s still out,” Beca shrugged turned to the blonde. Looking back she smiled softly at the sight of the capitol building being illuminated pink by the sun. “But man...You can’t deny that view,” 

“Hey, we’re are almost done you guys. Home stretch,” Chloe called from a ladder on the other side of the roof. The other’s nodded and made their way to her climbing down into an alley. There was a small flight of concrete steps leading them into an enclosed courtyard. In the back corner was a dead firefly, there was a note sitting next to him lying close to a puddle of blood. The note read;

ORDERS: Patrol the rendezvous area. Ensure no military presence before moving the girl to the next safehouse. 

[Make sure the girl is well fed and in good health. Her safety is of the utmost importance.]

“What if they are all dead when we get there?” Beca asked in a small voice. 

“They won’t be, I promise,” Aubrey said gently wanting to keep Beca hopeful. Chloe nodded over to an dumpster and the blonde nodded coming over to help push it to the fense keeping them in the small courtyard. The three of them hopped over the fence and walked out into the open street. They were staring right at the capitol building and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was almost time to go home. There was a huge body of water surrounding the building steps and Beca froze. 

“Uh, for the record… I can’t swim,” She said looking at the water nervously. 

“I think it’s pretty shallow on the right side. Follow me,” Aubrey said and Chloe smiled lightly at their interaction. 

They climbed the steps of the capitol building and up to the grand front doors. This is where their journey ends. Taking a breath Chloe opened the door, she was met with a bloodbath. There were six bodies on the floor laying in their own pools of blood. 

“No. No, no, no. What the hell is supposed to happen now?” Beca said pushing into the building and leaning down next to a body and looking up in panic. Chloe leaned down next to Beca and started frantically looking through their pockets. 

“What are you doing Chloe?” Aubrey asked but the redhead continued to look. 

“Maybe they ah, maybe they left a map or something to tell us where they were going,” She said as she looked trying desperately to find something. 

“How far are we going to take this Chloe?” She asked softly confused by her girlfriends perseverance

“As far as it has to go. Where was this lab of theirs?” She huffed before turning to look at Beca, who only shrugged in return. 

“Uh, she never said. She only mentioned that it was out west,” The brunette said running her fingers through her hair. 

“What are we doing here? This isn’t us,” Aubrey asked confused not wanting Chloe to snap. 

“No! You’re right! This isn’t us! Actually getting off our asses and doing something that will matter. Instead we just peddle drugs and smuggle weapons,” Chloe growled. Even she was unsure of what had gotten into her but the idea of leaving Beca there, or bringing her back felt like giving up. 

“I know you are smarter than this Chloe,” The blonde pleaded and the other woman just backed up shaking her head. 

“Bree we have to face it. This isn’t what our parents would have wanted for us. This isn’t what Tommy wanted for us. We are kinda shitty people Bree, it’s been that way for a long time,” She threw out a humorless laugh and rolled her eyes. 

“No, we are survivors,” Aubrey growled stepping closer to Chloe whose eyes were starting to brim. 

“This is our chance!” Chloe yelled. Beca felt incredibly guilty and she wrapped her arms around herself walking over to the window. 

“It is over Chlo! We tried! Now, let’s just go home,” The blonde walked forward reaching out and rubbing Chloe’s arms. 

“I’m..I’m not going anywhere. This is it babe. I am tired of just laying low. We need to do something,” 

“Jesus Christ baby,” Aubrey scoffed rolling her eyes.

“Give me your arm,” She said walking quickly to Beca who had nowhere to go. “This is three weeks. You know how quickly this infection spreads. This is fucking real. So no. I’m not going anywhere,” She growled pointing at Beca’s arm. Suddenly she perked up getting an idea. “Tommy. Bree we have to get her to Uncle Tommy’s! He used to run with them, he would know what to do,” 

“No! Fuck that, this was your crusade not mine. I want to go home!” Aubrey yelled shaking her head. 

“Please Bree, we have an obligation. To us, to Beca, to our families. They died because of this fucking infection and we have the chance to change that. How many people have to die because of this?” There was a loud screech of tired outside and Beca ran to the window. 

“Shit,” She said looking out to see soldiers jumping out of a truck. “They are here,” 

“Bree, I can buy you some time, but you have to run.” Chloe said turning to her girlfriend with pleading eyes. 

“What?” Aubrey asked her tone was terrified. 

“You want us to just leave you here? Fuck that dude.” Beca said finally piping up in this argument. 

“Yes,” She said with a scary certainty that made both the other woman incredibly uncomfortable. 

“There is no way in hell I would ever -” Aubrey growled stomping over to Chloe who glared at her. 

“Please...I can keep you guys safe! Just- - Just make this easy for me,” Her voice cracked as she heard soldiers start to pound at the door. 

“I can fight-” 

“No! Just, go!” Chloe said pushing her girlfriend back. Aubrey looked at her terrified and suddenly the door started to crack and all three woman locked eyes. A silent decision being made.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey if you guys liked this pop over to my Tumblr: ProbablyRileyWorks for more! I'll probably start posting extras to these stories and universes as well as answering questions and doing prompts!


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